


Winners Don't Always Get Lucky Breaks

by crystalkei



Series: Winners [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Ark!AU, F/M, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:36:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4058518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalkei/pseuds/crystalkei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Is the paperwork to your liking,” her mother prodded. Clarke looked up from the info pad and gave her a look.</p><p>“Looks like your standard ‘how to stop a coup before we run out of air’ type agreement.” She wasn’t sure but she thought she saw Bellamy Blake bite his lip to stop a laugh from escaping. It was out of her periphery, she was having some nostalgic feelings from school, and she couldn’t spare him a glance, she had to stare down her mother, but well, maybe.</p><p>“Clarke,” her mother scolded her like she wasn’t an adult with a dead husband, and a child, like she wasn’t about to be used again for her mother’s political gain. “Do you want to step outside?”</p><p>“No, Chancellor,” Clarke said with an air of condescension. “The paperwork looks fine. But I hope you’re going to buy us some new sheets or a punch bowl for the trouble.”</p><p>Ark!AU with older Bellarke. The working title says it all: Arranged marriage AU where they have hate sex immediately.</p><p>WINNER OF THE BELLARKE FANFICTION AWARDS: Best Domestic One Shot</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winners Don't Always Get Lucky Breaks

Clarke

 

Bellamy Blake looked almost exactly as he did when she was in school, never mind that 10 years had past.

For a short time in her last year of secondary school, the year before she started her internship, two years before her father was floated and she was put in the skybox, there was widespread unrest on the Ark. Every year she could remember, there was unrest, but this particular year, hers and Wells’ lives were threatened specifically. So for several months they both were guarded around the clock. And because many of the guards were found to be sympathizers of the opposing party, well, of course, there were only about four guards that worked the details. One of them was Bellamy Blake and Clarke spent a ridiculous amount of time keeping her blush under control and telling Wells that he was imagining her fidgeting. It was a schoolgirl crush and Clarke knew she made a fool of herself on a few occasions.

“Is the paperwork to your liking,” her mother prodded. Clarke looked up from the info pad and gave her a look. 

“Looks like your standard ‘how to stop a coup before we run out of air’ type agreement.” She wasn’t sure but she thought she saw Bellamy Blake bite his lip to stop a laugh from escaping. It was out of her periphery, she was having some nostalgic feelings from school, and she couldn’t spare him a glance, she had to stare down her mother, but well, maybe.

“Clarke,” her mother scolded her like she wasn’t an adult with a dead husband, and a child, like she wasn’t about to be used again for her mother’s political gain. “Do you want to step outside?”

 

“No, Chancellor,” Clarke said with an air of condescension. “The paperwork looks fine. But I hope you’re going to buy us some new sheets or a punch bowl for the trouble.”

 

This time she was sure that Bellamy Blake snorted. His own representative, an older leader from factory station, sighed.

 

“And you, Mr. Blake?” Clarke’s mother turned now to him. He shrugged.

 

“I’d rather have new sheets. Punch bowls seem like an upper class thing and I can’t fathom when we’d ever use one. But I guess there will be parties now, huh? Do we have to have parties to show everything is happy and everyone is smiling?”

 

“People know this isn’t a marriage of love, you aren’t expected to put on a show,” the leader from factory station cut in.

 

“Sure, sure, but it looks better if we smile. I thought everyone from this side of the Ark was all about pomp and circumstance,” Bellamy replied looking pointedly at Clarke. Now she was irritated. It was always about the haves and the have-nots with people from any section below 5. 

  
“We’re running out of air, the secret is out and our children and our parents lives are in danger.” Jake Griffin’s calculations were off by 10 years and Clarke was angry about the injustice of it all over again.

 

“My mother was floated already, as well as my wife, that’s why we’re sitting here right now. She was falsely convicted and you’re the only apology this sham of a government can come up with. ”

 

“Could float you too, that would tidy up the problem nicely, but since you’re popular down there in Section 17, despite not wanting to take a bullet for my mother’s mistakes, I’m here. For everyone’s good. To get us all to the ground without a coup by Diana Sydney.”

 

“Diana Sydney is who you should be floating,” Bellamy muttered under his breath.

 

“There’s no hard evidence for that,” Abby said from the spot behind her desk. They could only guess that she framed Bellamy Blake’s first wife. “So this is the new plan. We make you look appealing, and you overtake her in the election for council member.”

 

“And I don’t tell everyone that you floated a completely innocent woman for a crime she didn’t commit, right?” Something about Bellamy didn’t sound like a grieving man or even one that was angry with his wife’s killer.

 

“That’s line six or seven in the papers, didn’t you read it?” Clarke couldn’t help herself from asking needing to try and solve the puzzle of his odd tone. He turned to her, face closed off.

 

“I did, but I’m not an idiot, I’m going to continue to remind your mother of this every chance I get, just so we’re clear.”

 

“She prefers to be called Chancellor,” Clarke said with a tilt of her head. “She got my father floated,  _I_  prefer you call her that.”

 

Bellamy sucked in air baring his teeth as though he was in some sarcastic display of pain. “Heard the rumors but I didn’t think they were actually true.” He turned to the Chancellor who was barely concealing her annoyance at Clarke.

 

“Enough,” she said lifting her hands to slam on the desk, but seeming to remember herself at the last moment, gently placing her hands on the desk instead. “You’re the only one who can beat Diana Sydney in an election for her spot on the council. Clarke is going to take Kane’s seat, and the two of you can remind people on this ship that things are equal, anyone can flourish, you’ll be an adequate distraction while we try to get everyone to the ground. Sign the papers and get out of my office.”

 

“When are my new sheets going to be delivered?” Clarke spoke up knowing the wrath she was incurring.

 

“Honey, _our_  new sheets,” Bellamy said with a smirk.  

 

“Right, sweetheart, our new sheets,” Clarke corrected, returning the smile.

 

\--

 

“There’s only 20 minutes until the kids get out of school so cut the trying to impress me crap and get to work,” she said harshly.

 

“Are you telling me we don’t get some kind of nanny for childcare? Those sheets we get better be in original packaging,” Bellamy said as he pushed into her. Her back arched against the wall, her head fell back, and a strained curse word slipped from her lips. 

 

There was no kissing, some biting, rough fingers and scratching, they were mostly dressed, just pants undone enough for access. This wasn’t a stipulation of the marriage agreement but the minute they’d left her mother’s office she led him to her apartment, there were already boxes of his stuff brought in earlier by some person tasked by the Chancellor surely, but he made a sharp comment about “wow, windows, the other half really does live extravagantly.” And she couldn’t help but push him against the wall. They stared at each other, breathing heavily for a few seconds before she snaked her arm under his shirt and felt his muscles, taut and warm. He licked his lips before sucking her pulse point. Things had deteriorated from there.

 

A combination of sexual tension, stress at the absurdity of their situation, and Clarke’s old nostalgic feelings of that 10 year old crush put them here, her with her legs around his waist, biting into his shoulder as he hit the spot inside her that hadn’t been touched in over a year. She wondered if he’d been celibate since his wife was floated, really she didn’t care. Just curiosity.

 

They flew apart together, he held her for a moment, his forehead against her shoulder as they caught their breath. Then he released his arms, and she set her feet on the floor.

 

Clarke refused to be awkward after the incident. Instead, walking to her bedroom, their bedroom now, and hollering over her shoulder, “you can have the top two drawers in the dresser and there’s a whopping six inches or so of closet space. It’s easy in here, but the kids room is going to be trickier.”

 

“They’ll get used to it, I did,” he said, yelling from the main room.

 

“You had special circumstances,” Clarke said with a roll of her eyes tossing him a moist towelette. “The Chancellor is sending someone to put a second bunk in there, I’ll move some of Cora’s stuff to make room.”   
  
“I meant to ask you about that, about Cora,” Bellamy started. “Clarke, Cora, what was your husband’s name?” She turned from him before she spoke. This was a thing he would definitely latch onto.

 

“Curtis.”

 

“Jesus.” He laughed.

 

“It was his idea,” Clarke shot back with a glare. “He didn’t ask for much so I let him have it.”

 

“How poetic.” Bellamy was standing there with a stupid mocking grin on his face.

 

“Fuck off,” she said shaking her head.

 

“So you didn’t like him either, huh? I’m to assume I’m the second use of your mother’s need to get ahead?” She hated that he’d figured it out so quickly.

 

“We were a good match.” Her voice was tight as she quickly shifted clothing in drawers in her daughter’s room. Well, now daughters’ room.

 

“I’m sorry he died,” Bellamy said suddenly somber. “Even if we didn’t like them, losing them isn’t ideal and neither is this arrangement now.”

 

“You didn’t care about your wife?” she asked remembering his tone from earlier.

 

He shrugged. “I’ve been a pawn in someone else’s game, too. And so was she.”

 

Clarke desperately wanted to hear more about this but she supposed they’d have all the time in the world in their apartment later, after the girls were in bed.

 

“Bookmark that,” she said standing up from the dresser. “We have to go get the girls.”

 

He pursed his lips like he was stopping himself from saying something more, but she brushed passed him and he followed her.

 

\--

 

“Tomorrow, you need to come with me to a rally in Section 17, it’s at 1300,” Bellamy said as he unpacked the boxes and she shifted things on shelves. He had an entire box of books. What kind of a person from that section of the Ark had enough books, real books to fill more than one shelf? Her shelf held mostly knickknacks, she owned exactly three books. Bellamy had more than 15.

 

“I have a shift in medical, I can’t.” She looked at the box busting with old worn covers and yellowed pages.

 

“You have to get out of it, switch with someone, hell, call the Chancellor, you have to rub elbows with people beneath you, Princess, so they’ll like you.”

 

“They’re not beneath me,” she argued. He scoffed.

 

“But you think they are.”

 

“That’s not true,” she said before turning to Bellamy’s daughter. “May, sweetie, we don’t jump on couches.” The little girl looked at her confused.

 

“Go get your sleep clothes, I put them on the bed in the other room,” Bellamy said sending the girl off.   
  
“She’s never had a couch, she doesn’t know what the fuck to do with it, let me handle my kid, you handle yours.” His face was stern.   
  
“Never had a couch? That’s ridiculous, come up with a better excuse for her behavior, Bellamy.” She shook her head.

 

“Couches are a  _you_  thing, they’re a luxury, I’ve never owned a couch, have you ever been to an apartment beyond this section?” His tone was incredulous as he started putting books on the shelf she cleared, pushing her out of the way with a slight nudge.

 

Clarke looked at him trying to decide if he was messing with her. “I haven’t,” she admitted. “Are you serious though? What did you have?”

 

“We had a bed for me and a bed for mommy and daddy and then a table and chairs. Daddy made some shelves for the wall out of scrap he found once,” May answered in her solid voice, Bellamy smiled at her proud. “And for my birthday last month Daddy found me a doll and a book that went with it!”

 

“You don’t have a couch, but this box of books is worth enough to get you at least two couches at the trade market.” Clarke didn’t like the uncomfortable conversation.   

 

“I wouldn’t have room for a couch and these are more important,” Bellamy replied holding up a book of mythology that looked more worn than the others. He turned back to the five year old with dark curly hair and skin that matched his. “Go brush your teeth, May.” He looked at Clarke again. “Where’s your kid, anyway?”

 

“She fell asleep in my bed. I’ll move her in a minute, May can have the bed tonight and Cora won’t think anything of waking up on the couch,” Clarke explained, realizing the piece of furniture would be a point of contention and sure enough she saw Bellamy tense.

 

“Don’t bother. I’ll sleep with May, you sleep with Cora and we’ll figure it out later.” He slid the last book onto the shelf. “Get out of that shift tomorrow.” She let out a breath and looked at the ceiling in exasperation before walking into her bedroom to curl around Cora to try and sleep.

 

\--

 

Section 17 was dingy. None of this old rust bucket was clean and shiny, but it was clear that this side of the Ark got far less janitorial attention. But despite that, the people were smiling, talking excitedly. Clarke made her way through the crowd to the front of the communal area where Bellamy stood, shifting through papers.   
  
“Jackson is covering for me for an hour, so don’t get longwinded,” she said with a plastered smile to keep up appearances. People might know this wasn’t a marriage of love but they expected her to be happy about it, especially people down here where he was universally loved. He was polling two points ahead of Diana Sydney but she was known to cheat so Sinclair was checking the voting machines meticulously. He’d pulled half of engineering to keep the machines free of tampering.

 

“These people don’t have a lot of time, I never get too chatty,” Bellamy replied, with a raised eyebrow. “Did you bring a bag, like I told you?”

 

She lifted a small red bag into his view. He nodded before facing the crowd.

 

“I was thinking, who wants to have a party Friday?” his voice rose above the chatter of the people and when they heard his words they cheered. “Election night, let’s have a get together, right back here, bring the kids, we’re going to get some sugar candy and we’ll have some music, I’ll have lots to celebrate.”   
  
Again the crowd cheered and Clarke was impressed with the hold he had over them. His face was open, a wide smile, shining eyes, people were enthralled, even she was taken with him, she’d never admit it though.

 

“This is my wife, Clarke Griffin-Blake.” The hyphenation was part of the paperwork and it was the first time someone said it aloud. He held out an arm in her direction as though she were a prize, but people clapped and there was even someone whistling in the back. Clarke gave a little wave and a smile. She didn’t feel like a thing though, she felt admired. People on the other side of the Ark weren’t so enthusiastic.

 

“So, we’ll celebrate the election results, whatever they may be, and our marriage, it’s going to be an event. But between now and then, in these last three days, don’t forget to talk to your friends, your neighbors, tell them Diana Sydney has had a long time to make things right and she hasn’t. Time for some new blood in that council seat.”

 

There were more applause, more whistles, some whoops of excitement, and that was it. People started to push forward to shake Bellamy’s hand, hers as well, she smiled and did her duty. She campaigned with her mother years ago so she slipped easily into that smile of warmth meant to win people over. But as the crowd thinned she almost felt guilty that her seat would be handed to her after Kane resigned in three days, naming her his successor since it wasn’t the end of his term.

 

“You’re a doctor, right,” a meek older woman asked as she shook Clarke’s hand, paying no attention to Bellamy. Clarke nodded, still grasping the woman’s hand. “I can’t get into the clinic, my back hurts too much to walk that far, can you help me?”

 

“Of course,” Clarke answered sincerely. She touched Bellamy’s shoulder, he glanced at her and seemed to understand, tilting his head towards a door behind them.   
  
Clarke took the woman there, it was a Guard room, where anyone patrolling down here might take a quick break, it held a few chairs and a table. She offered the woman a chair and pulled some things out of her bag. She discussed the pain and gave her a few pills of ibuprophen, the most she could spare, then suggested some exercises to try.   
  
“If you can’t get it worked out, let me know, send a message to the clinic and I’ll come to you, okay?” The woman smiled gratefully and left the room, standing a little taller, though Clarke knew that was a matter of pride rather than her back being cured.

 

Outside the door there was a line, maybe four people deep. She saw Bellamy still speaking to people and she understood why he told her to bring her bag. Clarke worked with the people until the line was gone. Some as easy as a bandage and some antiseptic ointment, a cough, and one young man that Clarke made promise to come see her in the clinic tomorrow after his shift in Factory Station.

 

Bellamy guided her out of the room when the line was clear. She thought he was going to walk her back to medical, but instead they took a right when they should have taken a left, and he opened a compartment in the hall. Clarke looked at him confused.   
  
“This is where May and I lived, and Roma, before she was floated.” She stepped into the small room. It was the size of her room and bathroom combined. Bellamy picked up a rug off the floor, revealing a loose floor tile. He pulled that up to reveal a storage area, and Clarke’s face scrunched for a moment before her eyes got wide in understanding. “It’s also the is the room I grew up in, and that’s where we hid my sister.”

 

Clarke gulped. Everyone knew that women got around the safeguards, but they hadn’t gotten so far as Aurora Blake with Octavia.

 

“How did she fit down there when she was 16? Cora could barely manage in there,” she said thinking of her own four year old in the cramped space. The corners of his mouth actually lifted momentarily.   
  
“She was pretty flexible.” He was thinking of it fondly and Clarke was horrified, she tried to keep her face set but it was difficult. “Diana Sydney said she’d keep Octavia safe. Said she could sway Jaha and get her released on her 18th birthday, like you.” His eyes bore into her making her feel small.

 

“I was,” she stumbled over the words. “They said I was held illegally when nothing happened, when we didn’t run out of air that year.” She realized defending herself was pointless. It was unfair and Octavia Blake deserved better than she got. Here was a man who’d lost every woman he loved to the Council, Chancellor, and space. She held his gaze. “I’m sorry. It’s not fair.”

 

“Learned life wasn’t fair a long time ago, Princess,” he said easily, his eyes softening. “But this is why, this is why I’m going to beat Diana Sydney. This is why I’m willing to work with your mother, why I’m willing to be married to you. At least this time, if a woman I’m connected to is floated, I won’t lose much sleep over it.” The words should have been scary and aggressive, but they lacked the sincerity of the words that he’d spoken to her up to this point. And he looked away as soon as he said them.

 

“Tell yourself what you need to,” she replied honestly. Bellamy looked up at her, shock flashed in his eyes before he licked his lips. “Walk me back to medical, people need to see us out and about.”

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

 

 Since the arrangement was still new, both he and Clarke picked the girls up from school. They stood awkwardly next to each other as the kids were dismissed to parents in a steady stream of the afternoon shift change. There were two shifts of school, just like there were two shifts of work. In space, it was easy to swap your nights and days as schedule necessitated.

 

The girls came walking out, hand in hand and walked right passed their parents. “Um, okay, you lead the way home,” Bellamy said, taking three long strides to catch up to the tiny blonde and brunette with matching braids. Clarke grabbed for Cora’s hand.

 

“Honey, you have to wait for mommy,” she said stopping both girls but speaking to Cora. Since the couch incident she was clear to only deal with her daughter and though Bellamy was grateful it often seemed like she was exaggerated about it.

 

“We know the way home, and Grandma said the new bed for May would be in today so we can have a slumber party tonight!” the little girl explained with a giant smile. May nodded excitedly next to her.

 

“Your mom’s making stops at school to see the girls?”

 

“She gave me this pink crayon and she gave Cora a green one! She said I should call her Grandma and she’d bring me another present.” Now Bellamy looked at Clarke and glared.

 

“I didn’t tell her to do that!” Clarke defended.

 

“May is off limits,” he whispered harshly trying to not make a scene in the busy corridor. Clarke threw him a sour look before she set off down the hall, Cora’s hand still in hers. Since May and Cora were still holding hands, Bellamy ended up being jerked along by his daughter’s tight grip.

 

Once they reached their apartment Clarke went into her bedroom and came out with two small sheets of brown scrap paper. It looked like it was a recycled paper bag was cut into several pieces.   
  
The girls were already up in the newly installed top shelf bunk giggling, Clarke gave them the paper, and gently shut the bedroom door before coming to stand in front of him. 

“I don’t like what she did either, so please don’t fight me like I’m your enemy,” she said, hands on her hips. Her breasts seemed to be heaving, he forced himself to look at her face, but there her eyes were challenging but tired. Like she’d been down this road before and there was no winning.

 

“Handle her, Clarke,” he said sharply.

 

“No one handles her, Bellamy,” she argued.

 

“Do you ever push back against her? I thought you must when I saw you in her office three days ago.” Clarke closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

“We used to be close, I mean, not as close and my dad and I, but we did, and then I went to the Skybox and I figured out it was her that got my dad floated, the only thing I’ve done since I got out of detention is fight her and it does no good. I end up in the same place. You know why I agreed to marry you?” She paused as though actually expecting an answer from him. “Sure, duty and getting everyone to the ground safely, but I’ve been fighting her for 10 years, besides embarrassing her with some harsh words, I can’t actually beat her.”

  

He took a deep breath. Bellamy spent his time plotting revenge on Diana Sydney but Clarke needed to spend some time figuring out how to get back at her mother.

 

“You want to be Chancellor?” he asked with a tilt of his head and a mischievous smile but the charm didn’t woo her at all. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

 

“We’ve got enough coups to worry about, and I’m not a child plotting extravagant revenge plans,” she said it carelessly but the words still cut him. “The best revenge is to enjoy the life I live.”

 

“One where you’re used for her gain? One where you’re told what to do and who to marry?” he countered genuinely confused, his eyes studying her calm face.

 

“Like you’ve pointed out several times since you and I signed papers, my life is hardly difficult. I didn’t love Curtis but he wasn’t horrible to me. I enjoy my job. We’ll be going to the ground soon, I mean, hell, you’re a good fuck and not bad to look at, the girls are getting along, I plan on smiling through this, I don’t even have to grit my teeth. I’m exactly the princess you accuse me of being. But don’t worry, when we get to the ground, you and I don’t have to see each other. Once this is all over, once our feet are firmly planted on soil, we’ll do as we please and even my mother won’t be able to stop me.”

 

Her self-awareness caught him off guard and he swallowed, realizing his mouth was hanging open. The girls came running out of the room, May crying and holding her arm and he shook himself out of his stupor. Clarke was quick to wipe May’s tears and listen as she explained that she fell off the bunk.

 

 

“Can you move it?” The little girl shook her head. “Are you sure?” Clarke prodded, this time reaching carefully for the limb and touching her elbow. May didn’t wince as Clarke worked her way carefully along her arm. “It’s not broken, go get your daddy to give it a kiss and you’ll be fine. Maybe a little bruise.”

 

Bellamy picked her up and kissed her arm, then took a minute to blow a raspberry against it, causing both May and Cora, who was watching, to giggle.   
  
“Be careful,” he said putting her down. “I’m going to make dinner.”

 

Clarke disappeared into the bedroom after that. As he cooked and the girls chattered on behind him at the table he thought about what Clarke said. This too shall pass, he thought, and on the ground things would be different. That is, if they could get there without a coup, if they could get everyone to Earth. He pushed that thought away. It didn’t matter, it really didn’t, because he needed to oust Diana Sydney, and then find a crime he could frame her for (it couldn’t be that hard, she was committing crimes left and right, she was just good at covering her tracks) and get her floated before anyone left this metal box of hell.

 

Revenge was all he had.

 

 

\--

 

 

They slept together in the bed that night. The girls were happily tucked into their beds and could be heard giggling and talking for a few minutes before they dozed off. He considered the couch, but fuck it. They were both used to lying next to someone they didn’t care for. And the new sheets came today and hell if he wasn’t going to sleep in them.

 

He slipped into bed, he started with pajama pants and a shirt but once he hit the sheets he groaned. “God, they’re cotton, does this feel like cotton? Not jersey or polyester, microfiber, fuck, these are worth it.” He noticed they were a washed out purple, but he wasn’t picky. They were crisp and cool and he might never leave this bed.

 

“They are cotton,” Clarke said coming out of the bathroom in a sleep shirt too short to cover her ass and panties. “I’m not saying I ran my hands all over them when I put them on the bed, but trust me, you got the less fun chore, by cooking dinner.”

 

She stood over him a second and raised an eyebrow at him. “What?” he asked.

 

“That’s my side of the bed.” He scoffed but she continued to stare him down.   
  
“Fine,” he said scooting over to the other side. “But I’m going to sleep in the nude to really get the most out of these sheets.”

 

“Don’t you dare, boxers or sleep on the couch.” Clarke didn’t even bother pulling the comforter up over her, just the flat sheet. She shimmied a little, wiggling her shoulders and sighing contentedly.

 

“I can’t sleep on that side and now you’re telling me how to dress to bed?” Bellamy didn’t really want to fight about it, he was just poking at her, finding the boundaries.

 

“I’m not a fan of waking up with you hard against my ass and dreaming you’re about to get some. You need some kind of reminder that this isn’t a party.”

 

“Fair enough.” He nodded and shed his pants under the sheets and tossed them off the bed, leaving him in boxers, then lifted up to pull his shirt over his head.

 

“I need you to pick up the girls on your own on Friday,” Clarke said as he locked his hands and put them behind his head on his pillow.

 

“Friday is election day,” he offered.

 

“You’re a man of the people, picking up the kids at school. It will play exactly as good as it sounds.” She rolled onto her stomach.

 

“What are you doing? You have to be with me when the results are read.” She turned her head to him, adjusting her pillow.

 

“There’s a late surgery, the Chancellor always schedules them to distract herself from this kind of shit,” Clarke explained. “Someone has to cover the regular patients while she’s in surgery. I’ll be done by 1730, I just won’t be done in time to pick them up.”

 

“We’ll go straight down to Section 17 after I pick them up, meet us there. There’s a dinner.”

 

“Okay,” she said sounding like she was barely awake, her breathing starting to even out and her body settling into the mattress.

 

Despite the sheets, Bellamy stared at the ceiling for an hour going over the little things that spun in his mind. Things were about to change even more and he tried to fight the sick feeling in his stomach. Whenever things looked like they were really going his way, they didn’t. The smallest thing went off the rails and it always made for a huge explosion. He didn’t pray, but he desperately hoped it wasn’t going to happen like that again. Bellamy survived every fire but he didn’t want to do it again. He was ready to catch a break.

 

\--

 

The mornings were easy or they were so far. It wasn’t even a full week into the arrangement, but Clarke and Bellamy were adept at working around each other and even in tag teaming tasks: breakfast on the table, getting kids dressed, packing bags, and then out the door in time to get everyone where they needed to be on time. A sophisticated dance in the apartment that required almost no instruction but it did still result in some arguments.

 

“Why do you keep hiding the forks?” Clarke huffed, her hair wild and not tied back like it normally was by this point in the morning.

 

“Forks go in the middle because they’re most important. If you can submit a logical reason for them being on the outside left in writing by tonight, I’ll consider putting them back.”

 

Clarke grumbled and slammed the drawer. She stood over the sink eating as the girls ran circles around the tiny kitchen island that fed into the larger main room. Both girls collided into Clarke’s legs and she dropped her dish in the sink. He heard her take a deep breath and saw the muscles in her whole body tense. The kids took a slow step back waiting for some kind of response.   
  
“Cora,” she ground out. “Go brush your teeth and get your shoes on. We have to go.” The smaller girl nodded her head quickly and rushed off. May looked to Bellamy.

 

“You too,” he said and watched her sigh with relief. Bellamy walked to Clarke, she hadn’t moved from the spot over the sink. He stood behind her and spoke over her shoulder, very close to her face, feeling her hair on his cheek. It was intimate but not soft, on the contrary, his tone was low and short. “Maybe you need a little extra time this morning, I’ll take them while you pull your shit together.”

 

She took another deep breath causing her chest to heave, (he tried not to think about her breasts, he failed as he always did) and he was sure he saw fire in her eyes.

 

“Mind your own business and let go of me,” she whispered, giving him a sidelong glance. Bellamy tilted his head in confusion until he realized his hand was digging into her hip above her waistband. He retracted it like her skin burned him but he lifted an eyebrow at her.

 

“Your hair’s not even done, I’ll take them to school.” Still close as ever, just no longer touching, he watched her shift a little.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Maybe I’ll come back after dropping them off, help you restart the day more relaxed.” He knew he said the wrong thing but her cheeks flushed and her eyes narrowed and she turned her head so quickly he could have kissed her easily, her lips were so close to his. But he wasn’t doing that. She stepped away from him and continued to glare before the girls reentered the room.  

 

Clarke bent down to Cora and hugged her goodbye. “Bellamy is going to take you to school so listen to him and then listen to your teacher and have a good day. I’ll be there to pick you up after.” Cora kissed her cheek and grabbed her bag like May. Bellamy gave Clarke a mock salute on his way out the door.

 

\--

 

He didn’t have an office. Bellamy wasn’t anyone that needed one, his job in the Guard was still middle management, but he sat at a table in the common area where the Guard gathered, meandered, and drank their coffee, sorting through files on his tablet. He never noticed the room empty until Diana Sydney was standing in front of him.

 

She must have been a beautiful woman years ago, she still had shadows of it, but he only saw a snake in front of him. Someone willing to do anything for the smallest sliver of power.

 

“Can I help you?” Bellamy asked, not looking up from his info pad.

 

“I can’t believe you’re really going through with this, I’m going to crush your little campaign. It’s going to be embarrassing,” she said with a smile that repulsed him, her eyes bright with malice.

 

“Looks like I’m still leading in the polls by two points, actually I just got a note here that says it’s closer to three now.” He looked up at her but her face didn’t change.

 

“Polls are meant to give you hope, you’re new to this life of politics and you don’t really have the brains for it.” Bellamy chuckled.

 

“You’re right, I don’t give a shit about politics. You’re all smarmy liars, but beating you at your game is more important than my disdain for this government.”   
  
“Congratulations, by the way, on your new marriage. I assume you think that will help you win, but I don’t think the people of the lower decks will see your new wife as a good thing,” she said, running her finger across the table in front of him and rubbing it against her thumb as she finished.

 

“She’s done just fine so far.” He leaned back in his chair and rolled his shoulders. “I think you’re here because you feel your hold slipping. Trying to rile me up, but you’re lashing out. Running scared even.”

 

He watched her stiffen and knew he’d hit the weak spot. He tried not to grin smugly. Not yet.

 

“You think the Chancellor’s daughter gives you more power.” Diana leaned over the table, her hands holding her up over him. She whispered, “But it really just makes you vulnerable. How many women have you lost to space now, Blake? Two? Three? I guess maybe that last one didn’t mean so much. She was bringing all your pillow talk to me.”

 

Now it was Bellamy’s turn to tense. He tried his best to stay impassive, but his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Sydney could be lying, but he didn’t think she was. Any lingering fondness for Roma was cold now.

 

“As much as you like my information, I wish you’d have gotten me promoted faster. Guess that just wasn’t in your control.” He put his chair back on the ground, the legs scrapped the tile floor as he stood up, Diana took a step back. “Threaten my family again, and I’ll murder you and gladly float for it. But I think this administration would cut me some slack. I’d be doing them a favor.”

 

“They won’t protect you,” she said with a chuckle. “You continue to be expendable.”

 

“Like I said, it’d be worth it to me anyway.” Bellamy shrugged and continued to bore into her. People started to flood into the room preparing for shift change and Diana saw herself out. Bellamy stood rooted to the floor, able to fume without trying to keep up appearances.

 

Someone clapped Bellamy’s back and he shifted to them quickly, ready for a fight, but it was just Miller, he looked concerned.

 

“Isn’t there some rule about her coming down here the day before an election? Did she tell you she’s cheating?” Bellamy shook his head.   
  
“Not in as many words, but I can read between the lines.”

 

“My shift tonight is standing with Sinclair and that pain in the ass mechanic, Raven, while they check over the machines for the millionth time.” Miller shook his head.

 

“Get in a couple of early votes for me, yeah?” Bellamy joked before excusing himself. He had kids to pick up. Hopefully Clarke was in a better mood now than she was this morning.

 

\--

 

Clarke

 

 

The day had been shitty from the start. Too many patients, not enough staff, she covered someone’s shift in the Sky Box for an hour because of an emergency surgery, which always made her grumpy. Then her mother had been, well her mother. Asking how things were going and suggesting what she might wear to the party tomorrow. Clarke knew that Abby was footing the bill for the little extravagance. It was all routed through back channels and quietly done to make Bellamy look good, but Clarke knew and the idea that her mother was excited about it felt wrong.

 

And then of course, there was this morning. The sheets were so comfortable and she didn’t want to get out of bed. The really horrible thing though was that she liked sleeping next to him. Clarke was choosing to write it off as just nostalgia, a longing for her life before Bellamy. She was reaching for the comfort of times past when she slept next to the boring, little bit chubby, but kind Curtis. He was wallpaper. He was average and occasionally funny, directionless, mostly he was bland. But bland could be safe. Clarke never put forth any effort, she always got to choose the activity, the food, how to spend the money. He let her do all those things and just smiled meekly at her. And when he got sick she detached fully. No use in putting even minimal energy into someone who was going to be gone soon. It felt cruel, but she put on the face of a supportive wife and held his hand until it was over.

 

So Bellamy was not anything like Curtis. A polar opposite in the way he was driven with goals and plans and he challenged her on every level. Every conversation was a push and pull that could exhaust her. She didn’t want to like it. But she did. It was exciting and intriguing, and she hated that her skin hummed at the thought of him. This was temporary. Attraction was something she could ignore, but actually enjoying who he was and how he interacted with her? That was bad. This was temporary, she repeated the mantra at least three times a day. Getting close was not good for her health.

 

This was temporary.

 

“I see your day hasn’t improved any,” Bellamy said as she came to stand next to him outside the school door. She ignored him and looked at the door. “My offer from this morning still stands if you’re interested.”

 

She did her best not to roll her eyes.

 

“You’ve got two speeds, huh?” She scoffed. He leaned closer to her and whispered so the other parents didn’t overhear. Clarke kept her eyes forward, stuck on the door and the kids trickling out of it.

 

“Yep, what was that you called it? Childish revenge plotting? That’s speed one. Speed two is trying to pretend I’m not thinking about your breasts every minute of the day.”   
  
His breath moved the hair next to her ear and she swallowed. He noticed. A small laugh escaped his mouth. Clarke pursed her lips in irritation and huffed. She thought he might touch her but he didn’t, she was disappointed. Maybe she would take him up on it when the girls were in bed. She didn’t have to like someone to have sex with them. And she didn’t like him. Definitely not. Never mind any of the resolve she’d set earlier in the day. She’d already told him he was good at it, sure that was to see if she could stun him, and it worked, but in that event the truth was more shocking than a lie.

 

“Clarke, um, and uh,” Wells appeared at her side. He was looking awkwardly at Bellamy. He finally held out his hand.

 

“This is Bellamy Blake,” she said with a wave of her hand in his direction while Bellamy smiled that shit eating grin of his. “Bellamy, this is Wells Jaha.”

 

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Bellamy said taking Wells’ hand and shaking it.  Clarke gave him a look.   
  
“Not from me,” she told Wells dryly. Bellamy lowered his brow at her but she ignored him.

 

“Good luck in the election tomorrow.” Wells was sincere and Bellamy looked a little defensive about it. Clarke could let him know but she thought this was more fun. 

“Waiting for Miriam,” Clarke asked changing the subject. Wells nodded.

 

“She’s always last one out but she loves the kids, loves her job,” Wells said of his wife.

 

“Is she government issued, too?” Bellamy asked and Clarke cringed. “Weren’t you two,” he gestured to Clarke and Wells, “A thing way back when? Guess parents just can’t let these things run their course.”

 

Wells was not the same reckless teenager he was when people challenged him these days. He was a rule follower always, but he would also defend loyalties fiercely. Clarke pulled him out of several fights when they were younger. He could now argue rationally and calmly with other council members, but Bellamy was skilled at getting under people’s skin Clarke noticed. Wells’ face scrunched momentarily.

 

“Oh, thank god,” she practically shouted, relieved as Cora and May walked into the hallway. “See you later, Wells.” Clarke waved before nudging Bellamy toward home.  

 

\--

 

 

Bellamy sat on the bed, his feet were on the floor and his leg was shaking up and down. He was nervous. It surprised Clarke and she kind of liked it.

 

“The voting machines are tucked away safe tonight, I heard,” she said testing the waters. He startled and looked back at her.

 

“Huh?”

 

“The voting machines? They’re under lock and key and guard. The Chancellor thinks that Diana Sydney will try some other way to cheat, but she and the rest of the Council feel confident that the security measures are sufficient.”

 

“Did she have anything else to say? Did you?” His leg still shook relentlessly even though his face was placid.

 

“She offered to loan me a dress for the party tomorrow night.” Clarke sat down on her side of the best, adjusting the pillow behind her.

 

“Is it a hot dress?” His lips quirked up and his eyes raked over her shamelessly, she looked down and she scratched at her eyebrow in frustration.

 

“I doubt it. I already have something picked out, I don’t care if you like it, by the time I get to the party my dress will have no impact on the results.” He looked back at the wall in front of him. “I did pull out some coordinating outfits for the girls. Show of unity and all that.”

 

She saw his head nod from behind. Instead of needling him like Clarke originally planned, she felt bad for him.  

 

“Is everything null and void if I lose tomorrow?” his voice was weary, vulnerable even. “Not that I care, but it’s something I never really thought of. And May would be confused.”

 

“Pretty sure my mother is ready to cheat to get you the spot, and she’ll likely have you looking for dirt, some shred of evidence to get Diana impeached if you lose. It’s possible Kane has several backup plans.”

 

She didn’t really know what would happen if he lost, she was just guessing. Clarke was like him in that it hadn’t even occurred to her.

 

“She’s gotten away with too much for too long, surely this is the time that she’ll get her due,” she said as she reached for his back. Clarke stopped right before making contact and thought better of it. She reached over to the lamp instead, turning it off and lying down. Bellamy sat like that on the edge of the bed until she fell asleep. For all she knew, he stayed like that all night, except when the alarm went off in the morning he was lying next to her.

 

\--

 

The party was loud. It was animated. It was fun. Clarke hadn’t had fun in months it felt like. Maybe years. Someone from her mother’s office came around 2100 and took the girls home, leaving Clarke and Bellamy to rub elbows and cheer, and drink moonshine that tasted terrible. She hadn’t had moonshine since she was 16 and it only took two glasses before she was feeling fuzzy and light. She spent her night by Bellamy’s side, he was introducing her to people, he was drinking to his win, and he was charming everyone around him. She was losing her dress. The shoulder strap of the wine colored dress kept falling off and she kept pulling it up, even in her haze, she knew that her appearance was important. At least, it was on the other side of the Ark. Here she might be the most overdressed person at the party.

 

The dress was snug, probably a size too small but she wasn’t giving it up, good dresses were hard to come by on the Ark, and the square neck made her boobs look great. She was sure of it because Bellamy said so several times. Even before the moonshine was served. They made it back to the apartment and dismissed the Chancellor’s lackey turned baby sitter and checked on the sleeping girls.   
  
Clarke was sitting at the foot of the bed removing her shoes when Bellamy came in pulling off his shirt over his head. She smiled at him, leered was probably more accurate and he snorted at her but she saw his cheeks color in response to her gaze. She stood up but turned her back to him immediately.

 

“I can’t get the zipper,” she said over her shoulder.

 

He obliged, slowly pulling it down then Clarke turned to face him again. She pulled the strap that spent all night fighting gravity down, and then the other, and let them drop, then she pushed the dress down around her ankles, she stepped out of it, which meant another step closer to Bellamy. He undid his belt not taking his eyes off her before his tongue peeked out to wet his lips. She looked up at him through her lashes before her chin dipped down, she reached for the button on his pants. He gasped when she took his length with one hand and pushed his pants and boxers down with the other. His breath tickled her ear. She stroked him once, then twice, and he groaned, grabbing her shoulders to kiss her. They weren’t supposed to kiss. It was an unspoken rule. But in their inebriation and high off the win, he didn’t seem to remember the rules and neither did she.

 

It wasn’t soft and it wasn’t sweet. There were teeth and tongues and he grunted as though the kiss was another fight he could win. But she pulled back breathing heavy. There were rules. She remembered them. Kissing him was too good and she didn’t want good.

 

Bellamy looked at her, his eyes dark and chest heaving before he sat on the edge of the bed, she straddled him, her arms circling his neck. He slipped the straps from her bra off her shoulders and undid the clasp while she sucked and nipped along the skin of his neck. She pulled back when he tugged on her hair. It was just the right amount of pain to send her reeling. She arched back and he held her in place with an arm behind her as he captured one of her nipples.   
  
“Finally,” he mumbled, she tugged at his hair now, but it only spurned him on. Her moans became deeper and more wanton as he spent more and more time with his mouth on her breasts. She couldn’t take it anymore, her skin was too sensitive, she pushed back on his shoulders, slamming him into the mattress.

 

He chuckled at her as she moved her panties to the side and slid down on to him.

 

“See how far teasing gets you,” she breathed out roughly as she rode him, his hands moved to her hips, holding her in place.

 

“Looks like it gets me a damn good view” he managed to get out between his own groans. She moved faster over him, chasing the release, her sounds jumping octaves like skipping stairs. He reached down and rubbed her clit through her panties and she cried out putting her hand against his chest harshly, she moved a few more times before collapsing over him. He moved from under her, getting behind her and pulling her ass into the air, she rested her forehead on her forearms. His fingers scrapped down her thigh as he pulled her panties down.

 

“Fuck,” she whined as he entered her. He reached around to knead her breast as he moved in her, it didn’t take more than a few minutes and she was clenching around him again as his movements became faster and harder. He came with a grunt. Stepping back he released her hips and she sunk into the bed.

 

She would probably hate herself in the morning, but for now she drifted off to sleep, not bothering to clean herself up or even slip into the treasured cotton sheets. When she woke in the middle of the night though, Bellamy had covered her up, but he wasn’t with her in bed. She got up to grab a shirt and some panties. She cracked the bedroom door and saw Bellamy snoring on the couch.

 

It was better this way. No feelings. Just release. Cuddling after would make it weird. She wasn’t just telling herself that. Clarke believed it.

 

She did. Really.

 

\--

 

The pounding in her head was too much. Clarke tried to sit up but flopped back down just as quickly, her eyes hurt. And maybe her hair. She strained to hear the sound of the kids in the main room. They were giggling and then someone kept shushing them. Poor Bellamy, he was probably feeling like her but he was out there on parenting duty. The thought propelled her out of bed, slowly, but at least upright.

 

The lights were dimmed in the main room and she was grateful. Bellamy was on the floor, his head propped up on his hand while the girls played around him. He looked good. Not like they’d partied all night. That was unfair.

 

“Mommy!” Clarke shuddered at the high-pitched squeal while Cora tackled her legs. She patted her daughter’s back and walked to the kitchen where Bellamy had made coffee. Clarke smelled it, impressed it was the real stuff. Not watered down like a regular day. It was a kind gesture that she was going to ignore. Surely he made it just as much for himself, this wasn’t about her.

 

“You look like shit,” he said when she sat on the couch above him, her feet tucked under her, she hummed into the coffee mug and ignored him. “Don’t do that very often, huh?”

 

“And you do?” her own voice came out too loud causing her to close her eyes.

 

“Fair enough,” Bellamy replied.

 

She didn’t ask him about sleeping on the couch. She didn’t care. After their day off of lying around, they were lying together in bed like nothing happened. Clarke was perfectly fine with the arrangement. It didn’t need to be talked about.

 

\--

 

 

There was no pomp or circumstance when Clarke took over Kane’s seat on the Council. He left the room with a wave and the rest of the Council turned back to the Chancellor.   
  
They went over boring, trivial issues for the first hour and there was so much bickering. She felt Bellamy’s leg bouncing next to her, his jaw was tight the entire time, when he started to drum his fingers on the table, she put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. He gave her an annoyed look but he stopped the fidgeting. It was becoming increasingly apparent to her that he had no real interest in this.

 

“Now, we need to discuss the impending plans for Project Exodus,” Abby said and both Clarke and Bellamy sat up a little straighter in their chairs. This is why they wanted to be here.

 

“I’m told that we are still short 200 seats,” Sinclair spoke nervously from his position at the table. “But we’re working around the clock, I’ve split the engineering teams into three shifts, one engineer and two mechanics on every thing we can scrap together that might get to the ground. It’s why the heat hasn’t been fixed in Section 10, we just can’t spare the manpower with this ticking clock over our heads.”

 

“Isn’t Raven from Section 8?” Bellamy spoke up and Clarke looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She knew Raven, but she didn’t know he did.

 

“Yes, Reyes is but she’s on the first team, just her and Wick working together trying to build four new compressors from scrap junk parts. She’s exhausted, I’m not tasking her with that,” Sinclair argued, clearly peeved he was being questioned.

 

“What are you doing this afternoon, Sinclair?” Bellamy probed further and Clarke thought the older man might come across the table at him.

 

“My job, Councilman Blake,” he said shortly.

 

“I’m free, why don’t we go get it fixed, or maybe the Chancellor has some blankets she can spare for the people of Section 10?”

 

Clarke gave him a look, shaking her head ever so slightly but he ignored her.

 

“That’s a good idea, Councilman Blake,” the Chancellor interrupted. “We’ll send some blankets down there.” She nodded to an aide in the back to make a note. “We’ve got more pressing things, though, so let’s move on.” Bellamy gave a satisfactory nod.

 

A satellite picture of what looked like a settlement on the ground appeared on the screen behind her mother. Clarke’s eyes widened and she felt Bellamy lean forward, his knee hitting hers in his need to look closer.

 

“Is that a…a community?” she couldn’t help but ask. “Are there people down there? People that survived the bombs?”

 

“Here in the middle,” Abby used a pen on her tablet that circled a dark part of the settlement on the larger screen. “That’s a drop ship. From the Ark.”

 

Clarke’s mouth dropped open.

 

“Diana Sydney sent a group of kids from the skybox down 10 years ago,” Wells Jaha explained and Clarke finally pried her eyes away from the satellite image to gape at Wells. “We learned about this last week when the Ark was as close in it’s orbit to the planet as it’s been in 40 years. Pictures are always difficult but we were in the right spot at the right time and we caught this lucky image.”

 

“Who? Who was sent down there?” Bellamy practically yelled.

 

Abby shook her head. “The list was short, there were only 10, and not your sister.”   
  
Clarke cringed hating that her mother knew exactly what Bellamy was asking. She felt him tense next to her, she saw his jaw set in her periphery, his hands curled into fists and again she put a hand on his thigh, it did nothing. But she kept her hand there knowing it would at least give her a warning if he was about to throw himself across the table.

 

“The point is, we think it’s very likely the ground is inhabitable. We can stop worrying about potassium iodine tablets and water stores. We just need to get enough ships ready to reach the ground.”

 

Bellamy was completely gone. He was looking around the room aimlessly, his fists still tight, jaw still clenched.

 

“What’s the timeline, exactly? Can the ships be reversed, I mean could we send a fully functioning one down, drop people off, then have it take off again? Coming back here for a second trip?” Clarke spit all her questions quickly, looking at each face around the table, hoping someone had any information.

 

“Clarke, everything we’ve already covered is on your info pad now, we’ll discuss this further at tomorrow’s meeting,” her mother shut her down calmly and now Clarke was upset. But not as upset as Bellamy next to her, he pushed himself out of his chair and turned to the door.

 

“Well, I guess we’re adjourned,” the Chancellor said before Clarke followed Bellamy out.  

  
He was walking fast and Clarke had to jog to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm to stop him, he pulled out of her reach but slowed, just barely.   
  
“Where are you going?” she asked harshly. He finally stopped and she was able to stand in front of him. Bellamy looked up to the ceiling for a second, his nostrils flared and his lips twitched before he spoke.

 

“I’m gonna go kill her right now.”

 

“No,” Clarke said shaking her head. She absolutely believed him but he couldn’t do this.

 

“She just keeps fucking me over, I think I’ve got her beat and something new comes to punch me in the gut,” he breathed the words so honestly and raw that she wanted to cry for him. “She came to see me the other day, before the election, she told me that Roma was giving her information, she was taking anything I said to Diana. I don’t even blame Roma for it, I’m just done. I won’t let Diana Sydney take another breath.”

 

“Don’t do this, we’ll figure it out, but there’s no evidence that will clear you of killing her.” Clarke tried to keep her voice steady. This was about saving his life not Diana Sydney’s.

 

“Give me a reason that I shouldn’t,” he asked.   
  
“You’re not a murderer for one, you’re a good man.”

 

“And you know this after a week? Maybe I’m just as bad as her, maybe I’ve manipulated everyone around me to get to this point just so I can kill her. So I can win.”

 

“Fine, then don’t do it because May’s already lost one parent and honestly I don’t think she likes me as much as Cora likes you.” The last part was meant to lighten the increasingly heavy conversation and she was relieved when she saw a corner of his mouth quirk just a little.

 

“She thinks you don’t like her because you don’t talk to her.” Clarke watched his fingers come out of the fists.

 

“You told me not to parent her, you told me not to talk to her, this is your fault,” she said but there was no malice in her words.

 

“Maybe you’ve taken that too far,” he came back at her, mild annoyance playing in his voice.

 

“If I have your permission now, then fine, I’ll do better,” she promised, she waited a beat before asking, “Are you okay?”

 

He scoffed and she realized the absurdity of the question.

 

“I mean, can I leave you to go talk to Raven knowing you’re not going to commit murder or do you need to come with me so I can supervise you?” Bellamy looked away and she saw the vein in his neck finally relax.

 

“How do you know Raven?” he asked turning back to her.

 

“How do you?” she countered.

 

“It’s a small ship.”   
  
“Yes, it is,” Clarke agreed, fine with not giving up any information.

 

“I’ll go pick up the girls a little early,” Bellamy offered. “Good enough alibi for you?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

\--

 

 

“Raven,” Clarke called into the messy work area. There was a spark in the back of the room and she overheard someone curse. Raven came out from behind a shelf, Clarke smiled as the shelf swayed a little as though someone was leaning on it. Raven adjusted her shirt.   
  
“Councilwoman Griffin, you are looking gorgeous today,” Raven said with a smile as she adjusted her ponytail.

 

“Is there someone back there?” she asked with a raised eyebrow but the other woman just shrugged her off.

 

“Not anyone important.”  
  
“I can actually hear you, Reyes,” a man’s voice floated from the back. She gave Clarke a look before turning.

 

“You’re such a baby, god, Wick. Figure out if we have any size F10 bolts.” There was more grumbling and a small crash but Raven ignored it. “So I guess since you’re here you’ve had your first meeting.” Clarke nodded. “Go ahead, I know you want to ask me 49 questions.”

 

Clarke smiled sheepishly. Her friend knew her very well.

 

“What if we had a ship that could take people to the ground and then come back for a second load of people?”

  
Raven sucked in air shaking her head. “We thought of that but dismissed it almost immediately. There’s not enough scrap metal on this dump to get anything close to a hull that would survive both reentry into the atmosphere and exit and be able to turn around and do it again. Even if we retrofitted old panels, even if we torn this damn thing apart. It wouldn’t work.”

 

“What if you built something from scratch?” Raven shook her head again.

 

“No time,” she dismissed the suggestion.

 

“Do people have to be in actual seats? They were talking about seats in the meeting but can’t we haul people down, like a cattle car? I know it’s not ideal but,” Raven took a step forward and covered Clarke’s mouth with her hand.

 

“Princess, you need to chill.” Clarke’s brow lowered in annoyance. She licked the inside of Raven’s hand so she’d move it. “Gross!”

 

“You didn’t used to think my tongue was gross.” Raven laughed and smiled widely.  

 

“I can hear you two,” Wick called from the back.   
  
“Then turn on that compressor so you can’t, you jealous little bitch,” Raven yelled over her shoulder. She turned back to Clarke who had her arms folded across her chest now.

 

“We’re currently trying to figure out how much weight each ship can take, then we’re getting every passenger on the Ark’s measurements so we can see if we can evenly distribute the weight across the ships and have people strapped down in homemade jump seats that weigh less and can be repurposed on the ground for supplies,” Raven explained and Clarke started to smile.   
  
“You’re the smartest person I know,” she said and Raven preened.

 

“I’m probably the smartest person on this deck and possibly on the whole ship, I’ve just accepted that as my destiny.”

 

“I don’t know how I could help but I’m around for whatever,” Clarke offered and Raven snorted. 

 

“Yeah, I’m not going to need your help. But I’ll remember you offered.” Clarke turned to go but Raven called out after her. “Wait, are you even gonna give me any dish about being married again? I know you had a crush on that asshole back in school, so you nail him yet?”

 

Clarke didn’t turn around for a few seconds, feeling her face heat, she knew Raven would know the answer when she saw Clarke’s face.

 

“Good girl, you did,” she said. Apparently, she didn’t need to see Clarke’s face.

 

“It’s not a big deal,” Clarke explained finally looking back at Raven. “We fight all the time and he’s got this, I dunno, obsessive drive,” Clarke stopped, unsure who might be listening and knowing that Bellamy wouldn’t want her to share any part of their conversation from earlier. “It’s harder than being married to Curtis.”   
  
“That guy was so protein pack boring. I’ve seen fruit with more personality,” Raven said and then stopped. “I mean, may he rest in peace.” Clarke gave her a small smile.

 

“I know.” Clarke busied herself with something that looked like a ferris wheel but was obviously some part to an engine. “It’s actually okay?”

 

“Uh oh,” Raven said, coming over to lean on the table where the part rested.

 

“Don’t ‘uh oh’ me,” Clarke said.

 

“He’s gonna obsessively drive his way right into-” Clarke cut Raven off with a yelp.   
  
“Don’t!”

 

“I was gonna say heart,” Raven tried but couldn’t even keep a straight face. Clarke broke and laughed with her.

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

 

Picking up the girls early was a good idea. He took them to one of the observation decks in Section 1, the best view in the whole ship. He’d only been there once, back when he was a janitor and before he’d made his deal with Diana to be reinstated in the guard, but now anyone suggesting he didn’t belong there could fuck off because he was a councilman and today he was going to take advantage of his status and position.

 

Bellamy pointed out constellations and told May and Cora old stories of how they got their names. May wasn’t as enthralled as Cora, but she’d already heard all the stories. Instead, she put her nose to the glass and just looked, Cora’s eyes were glued to his face as he spoke though, her eyes full of wonder. He was excited to have someone new to hear the old myths and tried not to imagine how a young Clarke probably once had the same face bright with excitement and awe.   
  
Before they headed home the smallest sliver of Earth came into view and he told the girls that they’d set their feet on that ground some day. He was vague, they hadn’t really told the kids what would be happening so he didn’t want to overstep, but the words finally grabbed May’s attention back. Both of them talked about trees and grass and streams on the way back to the apartment and Bellamy felt a little lighter, almost forgetting the horrible meeting from hours ago.

 

At home both girls dragged chairs to sit in front of the window in the main room, it was only 18 inches tall and another 20 across, but the girls chattered on about their big adventure to the ground as Bellamy cooked dinner.

 

Clarke came in and leaned against the counter next to where he was cooking land watching the girls.   
  
“Glad to see you’re not bloody and arrested,” she said.  
  
“We went to the Observation deck on 1. They had a blast and I feel less murder-y,” he explained. Clarke turned to him and gave him a small smile.

 

“I’m glad.”

 

“Any good news out of Raven?”

 

“They’ve got math equations and plans and it might actually get everyone to the ground, but they’re rushing against the clock.” Clarke reached over him to grab a cracker. He swatted her hand but it didn’t work and she smiled victorious before popping it into her mouth.

 

“Thank you for earlier,” he threw it out before walking to the table hoping she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. He was relieved when she just shrugged.

 

That night in bed she rolled onto her stomach as she typically did, but in the breaths that she usually tasked out the next day’s chores and schedules, she said something different.

 

“What was Octavia like?” Bellamy kept his eyes on the ceiling and took a few seconds. No one had really asked him. Ever.

 

“Like a princess in a tower,” he said finally. “She was so desperate to see outside of our apartment, she thought people would be kind and happy and she wanted to just see them.”   
  
He paused, trying not to think of the night he took her out and everything changed.

 

“Her heart was too big for the tiny box we kept her in.”

 

“Like yours,” Clarke said softly, like she was almost asleep.

 

“Sure, whatever.” He rolled over and closed his eyes, hoping to dream of Octavia’s smile.

 

\--

 

All the women in the apartment were spread out on the living room floor. Bellamy worked a late shift and came home to miss matched crayons, colored pencils, and chalk spread across the thread bare carpet and the girls, all three of them, deep in concentration over their papers. Clarke’s tongue was peaking out of her lips as she sketched a bird.

“I messed it up again!” May cried and threw her crayon down. Bellamy was about to say something when Clarke swapped May’s brown scrap paper for hers with the intricate bird.   
  
“Here,” she said calmly. “Add more feathers and, bright ones, this bird is from a rainforest and they need plumage that is like a rainbow.” May’s legs were bent at the knees and she swung them around for a second in her frustration before reaching out to Clarke.

“Like gold? And orange and cerulean?” 

“Cerulean would be perfect, good color choices, all of them,” Clarke said before reaching for the three colors. She dropped a gold pencil and an orange crayon in front of May and then took the bluish crayon and poked her in the nose with it. Bellamy tried not to smile like an idiot at the exchange.

Months marched on. Biweekly council meetings and longer shifts as the Guard and medical prepared for the inevitable move to the ground made it harder for Clarke and Bellamy to be home at the same time. Which was fine. This was a marriage of convenience and this was working out conveniently to split parenting and household chores. Everything worked like a well-oiled machine and things were easy.

Bellamy hadn’t even thought of Diana Sydney in weeks but Miller busting down the door ruined that streak. Clarke looked up confused from the floor but Bellamy waved her off and stepped into the hallway outside the apartment with Miller.   
  
“Keep going, it’s probably nothing,” he said before he closed the door.

But it wasn’t nothing.

“We just apprehended a man, it’s one of her lackeys for sure, he was lurking in the school corridor.”   
  
“Okay,” Bellamy drew out the last syllable hoping Miller would come to the point.

“When questioned he said without hesitation he was there to pick up your kids, well you know, yours and Clarke’s.” Bellamy narrowed his eyes and Miller shook his head. “I was in the room. The guy knew he was at the wrong shift of school, he knew he’d be caught. She’s sending you a message and it’s very clear.”

Bellamy’s vision went tunnel and he felt rage coursing through him. Adrenaline Clarke would say but he knew this was unadulterated rage. He paced a moment in the hall, his hands balling into fists, before he realized what he was doing he’d punched the wall, a metal wall tile was dented and his knuckles were sore. Clarke’s head popped out of the door quickly, ready for a fight, he noticed and he might take a moment later to replay the movement because she looked hot like that but he was too angry right now.   
  
“What was that?” she screeched. Miller looked between the two of them before Bellamy shook his head.   
  
“Let’s go inside,” he told Clarke as evenly as he could manage but she knew something was off.

“Why?”

“Just get the fuck inside,” he snapped. He knew it was the wrong thing to say because her eyes flashed with fire but he gently pushed her into the apartment with his body. “Get Randall here and then I’ll come with you so I can talk to the guy. But only Randall.”   
  
Miller gave a curt nod understanding that Bellamy only trusted a few members of the Guard with his family.

Clarke grabbed his arm now and dragged him into their bedroom, she gave the girls some art related assignment to keep them busy and he thanked the universe she was better at masking these things than he was. As soon as the door was closed though, she let loose.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she demanded with her arms crossed over her chest, practically tapping her toe at him.

“There was a threat today, just now,” Bellamy said explaining what Miller had just told him. Clarke had a slightly different reaction though.

“This is good.” She raised her arms in front of herself and almost smiled. “This is something to get her floated.”   
  
“You don’t understand, Clarke, she’s threatening the girls, we have to get them and you 24 hour protection, there needs to be a guard outside the door, someone with them at school, someone with you at medical,” he was ticking off the logistics but Clarke shook her head.

“She’s bluffing. It’s getting close to time to go to the ground, she’s just trying to distract us or I don’t know, throw us off some kind of plan she’s made to try and ruin Project Exodus.”

Bellamy shook his head at her naïveté. “She can do both of those things, she can threaten the girls, have someone genuinely coming to hurt them, and still throw us off.”

“It’s so obvious though, surely when asked to testify in front of the Chancellor this goon will admit it was just a setup,” Clarke argued.

“Clarke, she’s threatened you to my face!” he shouted to try and get across the weight of this. Her body instantly changed. She took a step back, her shoulders drooped and she began to shake her head incessantly.

“When?” Bellamy heard the lump in her throat and he scrubbed at his face. 

“The day before the election, the day she told me about Roma.” 

“What did she say?” Clarke asked, her voice a little stronger this time.

“She said you made me vulnerable, asked me how many women I’d lost to space, it was vague but it was a threat, I saw it in her eyes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she almost shouted. “Because you don’t care, that’s what you told me, isn’t it? You don’t fucking care what happens to me or to Cora.” Clarke was tense, her voice was solid and steely.

“I didn’t,” he tried to think of someway to defend what he’d threatened that day, months ago in his old apartment, but there was nothing. “I was trying to put distance between us. I was pushing the boundaries to see how far they stretched. To see what you would say.”

“So you care now?” she asked and her face shrunk like she was embarrassed that she’d even let the words slip out.

Bellamy looked anywhere but at her. He bit the inside of his cheek and he listened to the air swish through the room from the vents in the ceiling.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Clarke spit out bitterly. “I assume you need to go get some sort of roster together, the people you trust to be around May? People without any lingering loyalty or favors for Diana Sydney?”

He nodded, still not looking at her. “Randall should be outside by now, I’ll be back when I can. Just don’t open the door. Maybe sleep in here with the girls, just as a precaution. There’s a stun baton in the closet, have you ever used one?” Bellamy finally looked up at her. Her face was hard but he didn’t miss the tear tracks. He swallowed down the feeling that he’d broken something precious.

“We learned how to use one in case the defibrillator wasn’t working. Even had to use it on a patient before Raven fixed the damn thing.” 

He left the apartment tasting bile in his mouth and considering finding Diana Sydney that moment, putting his hands around her neck, and getting it over with. But Miller walked with him back to the Guard office so Bellamy decided now wasn’t the time. Not yet.

By the time they made it to the Guard offices, there was chaos. People shouting, someone called for medical over the coms, Bellamy knew without anyone telling him. The man he wanted to question was gone. Two people were knocked out. Manhunts on the Ark were rare and even though it was a contained area, they were almost never successful. If you knew airshafts well enough you could hide for weeks.   

Kane came out of his office to meet Bellamy.   
  
“Things were going so smoothly,” he said with wave to the mass of Guardsmen working on various things. “I need you to tell me any interactions you’ve had with Diana Sydney where she may have threatened you. I need something I can bring her in for. Abby,” he cleared his throat, “The Chancellor has already called me frantic so news is spreading fast and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Bellamy pressed his lips together tightly and followed Kane into his office. It was awkward now for Bellamy to interact with Kane. He was his boss, but also, Bellamy, as a council member had political clout where Kane no longer did. They hadn’t really done much talking, even on a professional level recently because it was never necessary. But now he sat uncomfortably in a chair in front of Kane’s desk as he was questioned like a councilman, not a guardsman.

He gave his statement about the talk with Diana like he’d told Clarke before, Kane assured him that they were putting the highest priority on the threats, and then against his better judgment, allowed Bellamy to work up a schedule for people who would be watching over Clarke and the girls. It helped to focus on the tedious work of this. Better than replaying the picture of Clarke hurt and angry when he left.

 

\--

 

Bellamy walked into the bedroom to find Clarke on her side of the bed, Cora in the middle, and May where he usually slept. He covered up the girls, and pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads. Their soft snores filled his head as he walked to the other side of the bed. Clarke was on her side, she usually slept on her stomach but Cora was pushing out with her arms and taking up entirely too much of the bed. He ran his fingertips along her arm feather light, he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to wake up or not. Intimacy wasn’t something he allowed in this, another unspoken rule they seemed to follow, but he wanted it right now, to touch her like this, tenderly, fondly. It was likely after tonight she’d certainly not welcome it.

She sighed and opened her eyes, he pulled his hand back as subtly as he could.

“I expect you got a schedule worked out?” she asked, her voice rough with sleep but at least she wasn’t yelling or angry, just resigned. Bellamy nodded. “Good.” 

“Were they scared, did you tell them anything?” he asked concerned.

“Since you weren’t here I just told them we were having a slumber party in here, I figured we can give them the talk tomorrow morning before school.”

“You’ve had  _the talk_  before, what do you think we should say to them?” He remembered very clearly the day he was assigned to be her security while she was in school. They were both so young then. Nothing had happened to make him the man he was today. No one had been taken from him.

“We’ll just tell them not to go with anyone that isn’t you or I. We need to introduce them to the guards that will be with them.” She paused then continued as if she remembered more. “There shouldn’t be more than two. They can’t keep track of more than that.”   
  
“It’s going to be Miller and Nakamura. They already know Miller, so it will be easier,” he explained. 

“And you trust them?” The question was sharp and he cringed.

“Of course,” he replied sincerely. “Those two are the safest of anyone in the guard. I know I can rely on them.” Clarke made a noise of understanding. Then she muttered something he couldn’t quite make out.

“Come again?” Bellamy asked and Clarke’s eyes found his in the dark.

“It’s only temporary,” she said a little louder. He agreed with the sentiment. 

“I know, this thing with the Guard, it won’t last forever.” But Clarke gave him a look he didn’t understand and repeated the phrase under her breath again.

“How bad is your hand,” she asked, he was confused until he remembered punching the wall. Bellamy started to walk to the bathroom.

“It’s fine, doesn’t even hurt,” he lied as he turned on the light in the little room. But Clarke was out of bed and behind him now, clinical and quick, she took his hand, her thumb brushing over the swollen knuckles.   
  
“Idiot,” she whispered, but it was soft not harsh. “Get an ice pack from the freezer. I hope you didn’t break anything. You can’t win against a metal tile.”

All he could do was stare at her.

“I made up the couch for you so…” she said suddenly, taking a step back, clearing her throat, disconnecting. He thought he heard her repeat again “It’s only temporary,” but he couldn’t be sure. She crawled back in bed and turned her back to him. He slipped out the door into the main room settling on the couch without bothering to get the ice pack. Bellamy deserved a little physical pain to distract him from his head.

 

\--

 

The questioning of Diana Sydney went as expected. She denied everything short of offering a friendly bit of competitive trash talk the day before the election. Bellamy was actually banned from even watching from the other side of the glass as she was interrogated. Miller went so far as to shove him out of the Guard offices and told him to take a walk.

He took a lap, checking on the girls at school, nodding at Nakamura, but staying out of sight of May and Cora so he didn’t disrupt their class. Then he hit up Medical, checking in with Randall, trying to avoid Clarke, but she seemed hyperaware of his presence these days. She physically put more and more space between them and he let her. Every night ended with him on the couch and her in the bedroom with the girls. Even in council meetings she started to sit next to Wells.

“Can you please tell your wife that she cannot go to Section 17 to make a house call?” Randall asked Bellamy as he stood next to him, the guy sounded worn down. He looked to Clarke helping Jackson in some menial task with a pad in her hand, taking notes.

“You really can’t tell her not to do things. Just gotta go with it,” Bellamy answered. “Does she want to go right now?”

“She’s been bugging me about it all morning so I’d assume yes,” Randall said.

“I’ll go with her, you just trail behind us, I got kicked out of the Sydney interrogation anyway, I need something to occupy me.”

Clarke looked at him and he thought she was almost smiling. She’d clearly been eavesdropping. She said something to Jackson and then walked passed Bellamy and Randall with her little red bag, not even bothering to give them some signal that she was leaving. Bellamy took two long strides to catch up with her and Randall hung back as he was told.

They hadn’t said more than 10 words to each other in the last week. Sure, they’d spoken to the girls together, but anything else was off limits. This was worse than when they’d first been thrown together. At least then they spoke to each other trying to figure the other person out.

“Who are you going to see?” he asked feeling like it was a safe question. Clarke huffed indicating maybe there was no such thing as a safe question.

“Mrs. Stepanski, her back still is still giving her trouble. I think she needs to work less hours to give her back time to heal.” Bellamy scoffed.

“That is such a you thing to say, her rations will be cut if she works less, it’s eat and be in pain or don’t eat and be in less pain,” he explained, slipping back into the easy mocking of her privilege.  

“That’s monstrous,” she grumbled. “You’d think the councilman representing her would try to fix something like that instead of pursuing a crazy vendetta.”

Bellamy stopped in his tracks but Clarke kept walking. Randall caught up to him and gave him a look before Bellamy grunted and chased after Clarke. 

“I’m trying to protect you and our kids, I don’t think this can really be categorized as a vendetta at this point.” Clarke didn’t even look at him, he practically saw her lift her nose in the air like she was too good for the conversation.

“Tell yourself whatever you have to, when we get to the ground this is all over and you don’t have to worry about us anymore.” Bellamy scrubbed a hand through his hair in irritation. “This is temporary,” she whispered.

The words hurt this time. He knew she didn’t mean the threats of Diana Sydney, she meant being tied to him. If he didn’t feel like she’d just knocked the wind out of him he would have argued, maybe he might have said she was wrong. Perhaps he would have explained that he couldn’t say how he felt about her because if Diana got her way then it might actually kill him to lose another person he loved. Cared about, he corrected his own train of thought. 

But Clarke stopped in front of Mrs. Stepanski’s door and knocked. Bellamy gave a wordless instruction to Randall to stay outside and he followed Clarke in.

 

\--

 

“What is this?” Bellamy asked Clarke picking up a shirt from the top of the dresser. It was his size. It was almost impossible to find a shirt in such good condition that fit him. He touched the light blue fabric of the button down.

“Mrs. Stepanski gave it to me in exchange for the visit,” Clarke explained tightly. “It’s not a gift from me, it’s from her.”

“Thanks for making that explicit.” He scoffed and he pursed his lips.

“I don’t want you getting any ideas,” Clarke said before she walked into the bathroom.

“Right, once we get our feet on the ground, you’re free and clear to go live your life, same as me.” Bellamy hated that he wanted to hurt her like her words hurt him. “Maybe I’ll take up with Wells’ wife, she’ll probably need some comfort when you run off with her husband.” 

It was low. The words tasted vile and it took effort to not look like he regretted them.

“Get the fuck out,” she growled before she slammed the bathroom door.

 

 

\--

 

“As long as no one packs on any extra pounds between now and the launch of the drop ships, we’ve got it settled,” Sinclair explained to the council. “Reyes and Wick have strict manifest lists. They tried to keep families together or at least one parent with a child on the ships, planning for the worst possible event. But they’ve done it. We’re going to be able to set foot on the ground next week.”

Everyone clapped. Clarke even smiled. She hadn’t done that in over a week, but she was looking at Wells and Bellamy felt like an outcast on the other side of the table, his words from the day before festering. He didn’t think there was any truth to them, it was just something he knew would hit the target hard, but he couldn’t help the jealousy pooling in his gut.  

“So we’ll get the assignments out to everyone and people can start packing,” the Chancellor said from the head of the table.

“No more than 30 pounds per adult and 15 pounds per child,” Sinclair added. “And some of the baggage will be dispersed over different drop ships.” 

Bellamy stuck around a few minutes before slipping out the door. He lifted his chin at Randall. “Just gonna head up to the school and check in with Nakamura, stay here with Clarke.” The other man nodded and Bellamy left.

As he walked he felt a small shift in the corridor. It wasn’t uncommon to feel them, they were orbiting a planet in space and artificial gravity had it’s own quirks, it was expected. But it felt off. Bellamy picked up his pace trying to quell the sense that something was about to happen. He desperately hoped he was imagining it.

He wasn’t.

 

\--

 

Clarke

 

 

The council room was clearing out and Clarke was making a beeline for the door because her mother couldn’t stop asking why she and Bellamy were so obviously dismissive of one another lately. Someone might mistake her mother’s curiosity as caring for Clarke and even Bellamy, but she knew better. The marriage made Abby look good. She was only concerned as far as it reflected back on her so Clarke had no plans of telling her mother what was going on between her and Bellamy.

Under her feet, Clarke felt a little dip, her stomach dropped, but she brushed it off. She glanced around the room checking to see that everyone felt it. It was just a slip in the artificial gravity. It happened all the time. This time it was a good distraction so she could escape the room without the Chancellor noticing.

Wells was ahead of her in the hallway, but he took a left where she went straight so she didn’t say anything to him. Clarke felt another shift of the artificial gravity and reached for the wall to gain her balance, just as she did, everything went to hell. The lights flickered and went off, then the hallway shook hard, throwing her to the ground, then everything was dark.

The ship righted itself but power didn’t come back. Emergency lights came on as she quickly did a self-check. No blood, maybe a concussion from hitting her head on the floor, but bones all seemed intact. Clarke carefully stood up, using the wall to prop herself up to relieve the temporary vertigo that washed over her. 

Cora. May. The school. She had to get to the school. Where was Bellamy? Starting towards the school, Clarke desperately hoped he was heading there too so she’d know he was okay. 

As Clarke made her way down the hall she stopped often. She hated it, she needed to get to the school, needed to know the girls were safe, but there were people everywhere, varying degrees of injuries so Clarke stopped at each one, verifying they would sit for a minute without medical attention. Thankfully she hadn’t passed a person that was too far gone or any dead bodies yet. Through all of it, she didn’t even have time to wonder what could have happened to cause this disaster.

“Mommy!” Clarke recognized the voice, it was Cora’s. Clarke was bent over a woman, helping her sit up. She looked around for the source of the voice and almost sobbed when she saw Bellamy carrying both girls in his arms. He seemed to walk faster towards her and she felt herself unconsciously standing up and running to him.

They crashed into each other, both girls reaching for her too, Bellamy’s arms still supporting them, but pulling her closer into him. They stood there a moment, her head against his heart, she felt him kissing her head. Cora started to talk and Clarke pulled away from him, but only enough to look at her and then over to May, checking both of them with her eyes while Cora retold the story of what happened to them.

 “Then Daddy helped Mrs. Miriam because she hit her head,” Cora explained. Clarke couldn’t help the tears falling from her eyes. She stroked Cora’s face and kissed her, then looked at May and repeated the same motions. 

“Are you okay, sweetie, you haven’t said anything?” May nodded her head, and Clarke saw tears on her face.   
  
“She was just scared,” Bellamy answered for her. Clarke looked at him now, she lifted up on her toes and kissed him. Hard. When she pulled back Bellamy gave the closest thing to a smile one could muster after what they’d just been through. “I’m glad you’re not dead, too,” he said. “Any idea what happened?” 

“I haven’t even had time to consider. A malfunction in the ship? An explosion somewhere? I don’t know." 

“Okay, Miriam’s head is bleeding and we need to get her to Wells.” Clarke nodded, pursing her lips, trying to get herself together so she could do what needed to be done.

“Wells,” she said suddenly. “I know where he is.” Bellamy looked to her expectantly. “Leave the girls here with me, I’ll check over Miriam and the other kids that the parents haven’t come for yet. You go get Wells, he was heading toward the Section 1 galley, he turned down the C hall.” He nodded in understanding.

Bellamy put the girls down carefully, crouching down so their feet could touch the floor easily. He stayed in that position as he ran his hands over their faces, pushing their loose hair back. “Stay with Mommy and I’ll be back,” he told them standing up and reaching for Clarke again. He held her head in the crook of his arm, and kissed her head. “Be careful.”   
  
“You too,” she replied as he pulled away.

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

 

He followed Clarke’s path back to where she’d split from Wells. This was handy because it meant all the people on his way had already been checked on. But as he went he let people know that more help would be on the way. He hoped he wasn’t lying.

Wells was easy to find, but not so easy to help. A beam from the ceiling was resting on top of him, pinning him to the floor. He found him trying to push the heavy metal off himself.  
  
“Good thing I’m here to rescue you,” Bellamy joked, hoping it might cut the tension.   
  
“I can think of other people I’d rather help me but I really can’t be too picky right now,” Wells responded. Bellamy knelt down next to his chest.   
  
“Before I move this, are you hurt, besides having this fucking huge piece of metal on top of you?” Bellamy asked while running his hands along the bottom of the beam that touched Wells’ middle. There didn’t seem to be any blood and Bellamy felt like they’d both caught a lucky break with that news.

“I can move all my fingers and toes.” Wells cringed when Bellamy stood up to try and lift the beam. He grunted, feeling his muscles stretch to move the beam. It barely moved. 

“How’s your dick, let’s talk about the important parts,” he asked joking again. Wells shook his head. 

“I can’t believe Clarke said we wouldn’t get along,” Wells replied with a strangled laugh.

“She said that?” Bellamy looked around, his hands on his hips, for anything he could use to try and pry the beam up. “It cuts deep.”

“Probably just worried we’ll become such good friends that she’ll be stuck at home.”   
  
“Miriam is fine, by the way, Clarke’s checking her out right now,” Bellamy said, bending down again by Wells. He felt terrible for not saying so earlier. Wells seemed to breathe easier despite his situation.

“You think maybe if I pull and you push, you can slide out?” Bellamy stepped over his body to the other side, where the beam was lower. It hung still partially attached to the ceiling so if Wells could slide out sideways, he wouldn’t have to go far to get out from it. “Scoot about a foot that way and we’ll be home free. Got it?” Wells nodded. “Alright, on the count of three…”

When Bellamy hit three Wells pushed up and Bellamy lifted from his squatting position, using his legs to power the beam up further. It was just enough. Wells started to move and Bellamy felt his muscles straining as he held his breath. As soon as Wells was far enough, Bellamy dropped the beam and rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavy.

“Make sure you tell your future children about my brave heroics,” he managed to get out. Wells started to laugh hard now. “Scratch that, name one of them after me. Bellamy works for boy or girl.”

Wells was now sitting against the wall, his head leaned back as he and Bellamy both laughed. When they settled Bellamy remembered he still didn’t know what the fuck happened so he asked Wells if he knew.

“The radio,” Wells said patting his pants now, he found it and spoke into it. “Wick, Reyes, what was that?”   
  
“You aren’t going to like it,” Bellamy heard Raven’s voice come back over the radio. He reached for the handheld and Wells gave it to him.

“Raven, tell me why we’re in the dark right now.”   
  
“Bellamy fucking Blake, I can’t believe you’re still alive. Never knew I’d be happy to hear from an asshole like you,” Raven said.

“Just tell me what’s happened,” he said with a smile.

“Well you’re  _really_  not going to like it.” 

“Raven,” Bellamy prodded but a male voice came over the radio now.   
  
“Diana Sydney took one of the drop ships.”

“Shit,” Bellamy groaned. “There are so many times I’ve regretted not killing that woman with my bare hands.”

“Yeah, I know,” Raven said. He imagined her pushing the engineer, Wick, off to the side to get the radio back. “The sort of good news is her posse was large, maybe half of what should be on a drop ship for weight. We might be able to reconfigure the equations and redo the manifests and seat assignments to still get everyone to the ground by next week. But I’ll bet we lost a lot of air in the explosion.”   
  
“So the clock’s ticking faster,” Wells said and Bellamy ran a hand through his hair.

“If Sinclair and the rest of engineering is safe, we could really use them down here to split the work of the math to get everyone on a drop ship and to ya know, get the power back on so it can sustain us for another week.”   
  
Wick broke in again, “If we have enough air for a week.”

“Alright, we’ll see what we can do,” Bellamy said looking to Wells.

“Good, now leave us alone because we’ve got a shit ton of work to do,” Raven came back.

 

\--

 

 Clarke

 

After two hours of hallway triage Clarke checked in with medical, one daughter’s hand in each of hers.   
  
“Go home and sleep, Clarke,” Jackson said. “Your mom and I are going to keep working tonight, we’re sending you and Dr. Keller home so that you can take over tomorrow.”

“Alright, good luck,” Clarke said, straightening her shoulders and heading towards their apartment. “I bet you guys actually want to go to bed, huh? No fights on that tonight,” she spoke to the girls who were walking slow and tired. 

“Where’s Daddy?” Cora asked and it just now struck Clarke that she was referring to Bellamy. She thought back and realized that Cora said it earlier too. It didn’t even bother her, it felt right. 

“He’ll meet us at home when he’s done. He’s just working, trying to help find the engineers and mechanics so they can get the lights back on, sweetie.”

When they made it home, Clarke helped the girls wash their faces and clean some of the grime off their bodies before putting on their pajamas. Then she tucked them in her bed and cleaned herself up. There was so much that she needed to tell Bellamy. They needed to have so many conversations. But none of that seemed terribly important now. Instead when she felt his fingers slide along her arm waking her up, she was relieved.  
  
“Did everyone from engineering survive?” she asked before sitting up.

“Yeah, I took a couple of guardsman down to medical before I came home, so far there haven’t been any casualties.” She sighed, grateful. Bellamy pulled off his shirt and shucked his pants before turning back to her. “Are you okay though? Did someone check you out?”

“I’m fine.” She shook her head before she stood up to move passed him to the bathroom. Clarke came back with a washcloth and started to clean the muck off of him arms. She didn’t look at him while she did it, she wasn’t sure what to say. When she finished with one arm and switched to the other, he lifted the clean one to move her hair away from her face, his thumb brushed over a bruise on her temple from when she hit the floor and his face fell.   
  
“What’s this?”

“It’s nothing.” She looked away, his face was too open and worried. 

“Let’s get an ice pack on it, it’s already started to color, does it hurt? It looks like it hurts,” Bellamy said fussing over her.

“It’s fine, really,” she said finally looking up at him. He pressed his lips together like he wanted to say more. “I have to be at medical early tomorrow, come to bed.”

Clarke tilted her head towards the bed and Bellamy gave her a look.   
  
“Where? It’s sort of full already,” he said with a half smile.

“Look, we’ll just scoot them a little closer,” Clarke said carefully rolling Cora on her side putting her a little closer to May. Bellamy followed her lead and moved May closer to the middle of the bed, making just enough room for him to lie on his side. Clarke did the same on her side and then put her arm across the girls. Bellamy reached out and moved his fingers along her arm.

Clarke fell asleep soothed by his touch.

 

\--

 

  
The alarm she set was wholly unnecessary as the bed was too crowded. The first hours of sleep were deep and void of dreams, she was exhausted from the stress of it all. But by 0500 there was a foot in her face. Cora was quite the wiggling sleeper. The power was still out and only emergency lights lit the apartment so she got dressed in the dark, she was rested enough and Jackson and the Chancellor would certainly not be upset at being relieved early. 

Before she left she moved Cora’s head back to the pillow so her hair wasn’t getting tangled in May’s legs and giving everyone on the bed a little more room. Bellamy rolled to his back in his sleep and Clarke’s heart clenched. They were lucky to come out of yesterday with just a few scratches and bruises. It was so much easier to let go of the pretense and just admit that she loved him, at least to herself. She probably should tell him that at some point, but they’d get there. For now she was happy to banish her old mantra of “this is temporary.”

No more fighting it, she wanted this and she wanted it for a long, long time.

 

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

 

Power was still out but that just meant there was lots of work to be done. The school was open on a drop off children so you can go to work basis. May and Cora were nervous about staying, but he sat with them for a few minutes until they were comfortable.   
  
“What if the ship goes jumpy again?” May asked, her eyes wide with concern.

“Mrs. Miriam is going to tell everyone to get under the tables, okay? You stay under the table and then come out when she says it’s safe.”   
  
Cora took May’s hand. “I’ll keep you safe.” Bellamy smiled proudly at her and then pulled them both in for a hug.   
  
“Stay together and you’ll be fine. Clarke or I will come pick you up after our meetings today.”

“No more Miller or Nakamura?” May asked. Bellamy shook his head.

“You’re safe here now. But I think Miller has some candy for you, so I’ll make sure he comes by to give it to you.” Both girls got excited. “Later though, stay here and play, I’ll be back.”

 

\--

 

The only person missing from the Council room when he got there was Clarke, but she’d been working since early this morning so he wasn’t surprised. Besides engineering and clean up workers, medical was surely the busiest. He took his usual seat and saw Wells move to come and sit next to him, leaving a seat in the middle for Clarke.

“You ever watch soccer?” Wells asked and Bellamy smiled.

“150 year old soccer games are pretty dull to me. Maybe we should actually play the game when we get to Earth, huh?”

“You’re way smarter than people give you credit for.” Bellamy laughed at the subtle dig.  
  
“If you tell me Clarke said that-”

“Clarke said what?” she interrupted him sitting down in between the two of them. Wells choked back a laugh. “This is why you shouldn’t be friends. I’m gonna be the butt of all the jokes now. 

“Princess, please don’t mention your ass right now, this is a professional setting,” Bellamy waggled his eyebrows and Wells shook his head.

“I’m not here for that shit,” Wells said.

Bellamy liked the flush of Clarke’s cheeks. She pretended to be mad but she scooted her chair so their knees were touching.

“Any causalities yet?” Wells asked her but Clarke didn’t get a chance to answer as the Chancellor called the meeting to order.   

Five people died in the incident. The Ark had two weeks of air left meaning they lost two weeks in the explosion from the drop ship taking off without proper launching. And no one was sure if the drop ship landed safely. There was no communication from it and they couldn’t get clear satellite pictures. Bellamy hoped Diana Sydney’s luck finally ran out and she was dead on the ground. But he wouldn’t know for another 10 days.

“The new launch date, assuming we can get the equations worked out is going to be next Wednesday. Everyone will have to keep working to meet it. And we’re going to close off Sections 8-10,” Sinclair explained.    
  
“Where will the people who live on those decks go?” Bellamy asked. Abby looked at him annoyed.

“We’re moving them to the common areas,” Abby explained. “It’s the best we can do, those decks are the worst and rather than waste the time to fix them we need to focus our manpower elsewhere.”

“What if there’s some doubling up in these bigger apartments in Sections 1 through 6?” Bellamy suggested and Clarke and Wells nodded in agreement, he was spurned on by their support. “Our apartment is huge for fuck’s sake. We could host two families easily.”   
  
Abby gave him a look, then around the room at the other members of the council. Unfortunately for her, most of them seemed to approve of the idea. She put it to a vote and it was unanimous. Bellamy tried not to laugh at her sour face.

“Doesn’t your mom have that apartment all to herself?” Bellamy leaned to Clarke and whispered.

“I don’t like to think about it but actually Kane is there most of the time,” she whispered back as her mother tasked out the work of assigning displaced families to apartments. Bellamy’s mouth puckered like he’d just tasted something bad.

“That’s a secret I could have gone my entire life not knowing but okay.”   
  
“How do you think I feel?” she said with a wicked smile. He resisted the urge to kiss her. Not appropriate since they were still in a meeting.

“That’s all for today, we’ll need to meet again day after tomorrow, unless something else drastic happens. Please continue to keep working in your sections. The people need our help,” the Chancellor said adjourning the meeting. People started to file out quickly, all with tasks. They were almost the only people in the room, except the Chancellor and an aide of hers at the other end of the table talking about apartment assignments

“I’m going down to 17 to help with clean up, are you going home? You’ve been working all day, I don’t want you to wear yourself out.” Bellamy moved her hair to check the bruise on the side of her face again, it was purplish now and he hoped it didn’t hurt her too much.

“Just another hour in medical, then I’ll go get the girls, you come home when you’re done,” she leaned over and kissed his cheek before standing up to head out the door. He grabbed her hand as she walked by and she turned to him.

“We should probably talk later,” he said cautiously. “I’ve got at least 12 things to apologize for and I feel like groveling might be a thing that’s gonna happen.”

“Groveling isn’t necessary.” She leaned down, her lips almost touching his ear. “I can think of better ways for you to make it up to me while on your knees.” He couldn’t help but hiss at her words, it only got worse when she moved her hand from his and slipped it into his t shirt collar and scratched across his bare skin there. He looked at her and she bit her lip. “Be safe and come home when you can.”   
  
\--

 

Clarke

 

 

When she made it back to medical, Wells was there. He was helping clean up the bits of debris outside in the corridors. A lot of tiles were crooked and half hanging on the walls, some came off and littered the walkways making it dangerous.

“Hey,” he said stopping her. She gave him an expectant smile and he went on. “I don’t know what was going on, and thank you for not letting me in on it.” He looked down rubbing the back of his neck, then looked back at her face. “But I’m glad you’re happy now. I know it’s been hard for you these last few years, so I’m happy to see you better.”

“The last few days seem like they’ve been pretty shitty, but,” Clarke laughed to herself, “yeah, I think I’m better. Thank you.”

“Get back to work, Dr. Griffin-Blake,” he said with a smile. 

“On it, Councilman Jaha.” Clarke gave a wave and headed into medical.

 

\--

 

Clarke stopped in the galley on her way home to pick up food, with the power out it was just cold rations but she thanked the workers behind the counter. Morale needed to stay up and a simple thank you did a lot.

After picking up the girls, feeding them, and getting them to bed she thought about sitting down and just relaxing her tired body, but she was restless. They would be going to the ground soon. So she started going through things to pack, what to leave behind. Glancing at the shelf she realized Bellamy would have to decide which books to take. She would be fine leaving most of her measly possessions here, floating in space, but she was willing to bet that Bellamy would rather have the clothes on his back and a bag full of books than leave any of them so she compensated by cutting back to just two outfits for herself leaving room to put at least one more for him in her bag.

“Is it possible for my hair to be tired?” Bellamy asked coming through the door. She laughed softly.

“Happens to me all the time.” Clarke stood from where she was organizing what would soon go into bags bound for Earth. He dropped his bag and pulled his shirt over his head, undid his pants and tossed both towards their bedroom door. 

“I’m not even upset there isn’t hot water, I’m going to shower, like two days worth of my water rations. I feel disgusting.” Clarke pressed her lips together and furrowed her brow.   
  
“There’s no water.” Breaking the news seemed to break his mood. “Can I interest you in 10 towelettes?” He sighed and shuffled into the bedroom, she followed him just in time to see him face planting on the bed. Bellamy turned his head to the side. 

“Fine, I’m going to sleep for a really solid eight hours, yeah, that seems luxurious.” Now Clarke smiled.

“You’re going to ruin the sheets if you don’t clean up first.”  

“We’re taking these fucking things to the ground, I will honest to god leave a book behind to make room for them,” he said, his hands fisting in the flat sheet. She made the bed before leaving every day, he did not and since she went to work nice and early, before he and the girls were even awake, it was not tidy.

“Okay but don’t try to put that book in one of the girls’ bags. They need to carry useful things in their bags.

“My children know that books are useful,” he muttered offended.

“Yours?” she asked moving now to straddle his hips, he groaned as she started to massage the muscles of his shoulders and back. 

“Ours,” he said. “I’m supposed to be the one apologizing, I should be giving you a backrub.”

“We’ve got a long time for you to return the favor,” Clarke said, pressing the heel of her hand into a tough knot under his shoulder blade.

“Not just temporary anymore?” he asked, lifting his head up a little to look at her. She nodded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t say it, before,” he paused, his words coming out carefully. “I was just afraid if I said it, admitted it, that something bad would happen. It always does.”   
  
“Not this time,” Clarke said, leaning over him now to kiss him. She slid off his hips and he shifted to get closer to her, he ran his hands along her sides before sliding under her sleep shirt, instead of before where it was always scratches and rough movements, Bellamy trailed his fingertips across the skin of her stomach lightly, she mirrored his movements, skimming every muscle softly. They kissed for a while, neither making any other forward motion except their fingers on skin, just allowing themselves the pleasure of tasting tongues and lips. The old rules thrown out in favor of a more honest connection. 

Soon though, Clarke ached for more, so she guided his hand down further, she left it just below her belly button and took the initiative herself to pull her panties down. Bellamy moved over her without breaking the kiss, he slid the heel of his hand down over her curls and dipped a finger close to her folds. She whined and he laughed against her lips.   
  
“I figured out how you know Raven,” he said in between kissing the side of her mouth, then along her jaw.   
  
“Of all the things we could be talking about right now,” Clarke said with a sigh, his finger moved up to her clit, and she gasped.

“Hear me out,” he said, smiling against the skin of her collarbone now, his mouth open to suck a spot above her breast. “You two dated.” Clarke giggled. 

“Are you telling me this because you’re jealous?” she dug her fingernails into his bicep as he flattened his tongue against her nipple.

“Not even a little,” he said before kissing the underside of her breast. “But see, I’m very competitive.” 

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Clarke said, she sighed again, as his tongue dipped into her belly button.

“I’m just going to need you to write a full page on who did this better.” She moaned as his tongue reached her clit.   
  
“Not really one to kiss and tell,” she managed to get out before threading her hands in his hair. He lifted his face to look up at her, an eyebrow cocked in challenge, so she pushed her hands so his tongue was on her again. Her breath coming in short gasps now. He slipped a finger inside as his tongue worked her clit and she whimpered. Bellamy pulled her legs over his shoulders and retracted his finger, licking her slit eagerly, then inserting two fingers, and returning his attention to her clit.

Clarke started to move her hips as his fingers fucked her, as she drew closer to release he sped up and held an arm across her belly to give her more purchase. She cried out as the wave she’d been chasing crashed into her. Bellamy backed off, only gently working a finger in and out as she came down from the high. He kissed her inner thigh and moved up her body, coming to kiss her shoulders as his hand brushed across her face, clearing the damp loose hairs. He kissed her cheek gently then, and she thought she might be this puddle of content goo forever.

Stretching languidly, she offered him access again to her neck, and he took it. Kissing again, hard where her neck met her collarbone. It would leave a mark, and she knew he meant it to when he pulled back to admire his handy work with a devilish grin.

“Are you trying to win at sex?”

“There are no losers in sex,” he said with a scoff. “But I’ll take this competition over the other ones I’ve been participating in.”

She smiled at him now, the kind of smile where her tongue came up behind her teeth like it was trying to escape. She was content.

Despite both being bone tired they spent most of the night touching each other, allowing themselves what they’d denied for so long.

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

 

“Miller’s at the door,” Clarke said poking her head into the bathroom as Bellamy turned the knob hoping against hope that the water was back on. His shoulders slumped when nothing happened.

In the main room he saw Miller brought a duffle bag. He was giving the girls some candy.   
  
“Candy before breakfast? C’mon man,” Bellamy said with a groan.

“I think you mean candy  _for_  breakfast,” Miller corrected and even Clarke rolled her eyes from the kitchen, throwing a cracker and impressively hitting the back of Miller’s head.

“What’s up, why are you spoiling my children at such an early hour?” Bellamy worried it might be bad news but Miller smiled putting Bellamy at ease.

“I am your new houseguest.”   
  
“Right, you live in Section 9,” Bellamy remembered, snapping his fingers.

“Yes, and my dad too, we’re both on second shift now so you probably won’t even notice us.”   
  
“The good news is this is a special edition apartment with a bunk bed in the second bedroom and you’re here before your pop so you get first pick.”

“You should sleep in my bed,” Cora shouted excitedly.

“Mine’s way better, it’s high!” May wouldn’t be left out, she even put her hands on either side of Miller’s face and looked at him sternly. “But don’t worry, as long as you don’t play around up there you won’t fall off. And if you do fall, Mommy can check your arm and Daddy can kiss it better.”

Bellamy glanced at Clarke, she stood looking surprised at the exchange. He walked over to her and whispered, “And you didn’t think she liked you.”

She smacked his chest and made a face at him. “Shut up, Blake.”

 

\--

 

Wednesday morning came quickly. He thanked Clarke over and over for her preparation in packing the girls things because he barely got his own stuff packed in time.

The loading areas for the drop ships were crowded despite a staggered launch time. According to Raven and Wick’s very specific math, they needed to spread out the launches to preserve something…he forgot. Or wasn’t listening. But now he wished he paid better attention because he didn’t love the fact that he and Cora were on a drop ship leaving an hour before Clarke and May.

“The ships have a sliding scale of fuel to make sure they all land in the same area despite launching at different times,” Clarke explained as he curled his lip in irritation. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to you as soon as we can.”

“How close are we going to be to the settlement from the satellite picture?”

“Were you even awake during the meeting yesterday?” Clarke gave him a disapproving look.

“I was really tired from the night before,” he said, his brows raised and a smug grin on his face. “And the night before, and-”

“Stop,” Clarke cut him off shaking her head and a blush creeping along her cheeks. “Be careful and don’t die.”

“You, too,” he replied, giving her a quick kiss, squeezing her shoulders as Raven called for everyone to form a line to board. He lifted May for a hug while Clarke did the same for Cora and Raven repeated her instructions. “Keep your panties on, Reyes. We’re going.”

“Can it, Blake,” Raven shouted but she was smiling.

He sat in his assigned seat for perfect weight distribution and then he lifted Cora onto his lap and strapped her in with the special harnesses that Wick created so that smaller children could double up with parents.

“Ready for a big adventure,” he asked her. She nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

“I’m ready!” the little blonde shouted. Other kids and adults could be heard throughout the ship repeating the phrase. Bellamy closed his eyes and took a deep breath preparing himself and then they were off.

 

\--

 

Clarke

 

 

“How do you know Bellamy, you have to tell me, he won’t and he already figured out why we know each other,” Clarke asked Raven as the doors sealed and May pressed her nose against the glass to wave as though they could see her.

“He didn’t arrest me once,” Raven answered tugging on May’s shoulder. “Not so close, you’ll need some eye protection if you want to watch.”

Clarke took May’s hand and followed Raven as she went to the control panel that would launch the ship.

“I don’t think it’s possible to be less specific.” Clarke leaned against the back of the board where Raven was flipping switches. Wick was doing an identical job on the other side of the Ark. The ship launching now was the third of six ships going down.

“It’s actually sort of huge and I didn’t really get it until they found Octavia,” she softened the name, speaking it reverently. She didn’t look at Clarke still, but she continued, “I was taking a ration, I was hungry, my mom ate everything and I just wanted to eat. My hand moved almost involuntarily. He saw me, I was so scared.”   
  
Her hands flitted across the buttons but she stopped and finally looked at Clarke. “He paid for it. I was terrified, he was in his Guard uniform and I thought he was going to ask for something in return, you know there are guards like that.” She nodded. “Never did. Just let me go. When I heard about Octavia, I knew he was just doing what a big brother does.”

“So you do the typical thing and call him asshole.” Clarke’s tone was playful.

“Well, yeah,” Raven responded with a shrug. “Go over to the other side of the Ark. You and May are on the next one down. Tell Wick when I launch this next one I’ll be over there to go with him on the last lifeboat.”

Clarke reached over and hugged her. It surprised Raven, but she returned the gesture.   
  
“No seriously, get out of here, Councilwoman Griffin-Blake, I have work to do.”

 

\--

 

“Miller, if I didn’t know any better I’d assume my husband actually broke into Raven’s math to get you a seat next to me.” She elbowed the guy and he snorted.   
  
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen his math, you wouldn’t think that if you’d seen it,” Miller said with a straight face. “This is pure luck and I hope that it doesn’t mean anything cosmically, I’d like to not fight my way out of the ship or catch fire on reentry,” he lowered his voice for the last part, concerned about other ears listening.

“I am a doctor, so I’ll make sure you survive.” She winked at him before checking May’s harness for the third time.   
  
“It’s fine, Mom, stop,” she whined. Even the obnoxious tone couldn’t help the little surge of excitement she got when May called her “Mom.” She really didn’t expect her to ever say it, so it thrilled her just the same no matter the way she said it.

As the ship launched, she reached for her by her side and covered her ears, May burrowed into her side, and Clarke took a deep breath. “Here we go.”

 

\--

 

Bellamy

 

They made it. They made it and the air was crisp and sweet. The dirt under his feet was solid and the sky was almost too bright.

“Mommy is going to want to paint the sky,” Cora said. He carried her out of the ship and put her down with a huge flourish.   
  
“And you should play in the dirt,” he said and Cora giggled. “I read in this book to find certain plants so we can make Mommy some paints. Her birthday is coming up, you think she’d like that?” Cora nodded enthusiastically.

He took stock of what was happening around him, he saw Wells coming towards him, he’d come down on the first ship to have someone on the ground to set up basic logistics. 

  
“Don’t tell me you need my help already,” Bellamy asked.

“Actually, I think you’re going to like this,” Wells replied. A man with dark hair and a familiar face, but in rough clothing, animal skins maybe, walked towards him and shook his hand. “I’m Monty, I was sent down 10 years ago and you’re Octavia’s brother.”

Bellamy cocked his head to the side, perplexed as to why this kid from the Skybox, this kid who survived 10 years on earth, was referring to him as Octavia’s brother. He didn’t dare hope.  

Wells leaned forward. “You’re catching a break, man.”

“No,” Bellamy said skeptically but Monty nodded. “Well, where the fuck is she?” he asked with a laugh.

“She’s coming. Her and her husband were hunting when the first ship touched down. I know she saw it, she’s been looking at the sky every year, waiting for you to come down. Plus when Diana Sydney came down a couple weeks ago she told us-”

Bellamy cut Monty off. “Wait, Diana Sydney, did people from that ship survive?” 

“Maybe you didn’t catch a break,” Bellamy heard Wells say under his breath.

“Take me to her,” Bellamy demanded.

“Daddy, what about Mommy?” Cora asked shaking Bellamy out of his flash of rage. He knelt down next to her.   
  
“Sorry, you’re right, let’s go find her first.” He turned back to Monty. “Is Diana Sydney contained?”

“She’s badly injured,” Monty explained. “No one here has been able to help her, she’s basically been dying for the last two weeks. The grounders, the people here, they wanted to kill her, but she insisted we wait until the other ships from the Ark come down.”

Wells handed Bellamy a map. “I’m going to help everyone coming off this ship, this is the coordinates for Clarke’s ship landing site. It’s just a kilometer that way.” Wells pointed behind the ship. “There’s another kid, well adult, from the Skybox drop ship that’s helping me, you take Monty and he can fill you in on the situation with the grounders.” Bellamy nodded and set off, Cora’s hand in his.

“Did you say my sister had a husband?” Bellamy asked Monty.

“They don’t call it marriage but that’s what it is. We’ve been here 10 years, what did you think would happen?”

“I didn’t even know she was here, I thought she was dead. Sydney never told me. She wasn’t on the records either, we found those a couple months ago, you were on the list.” Bellamy put a hand above his eyes to block the sun, it was so bright, except it wasn’t the sun. He realized it was the ship coming down. He picked up Cora and quickly turned to shield her from the heat of the rockets as the ship touched down.

“Shit,” Monty said from his other side. “Who did this? Who figured all the calculations and stuff? The engineers I knew were kind of idiots, well maybe one wasn’t.”   
  
“Raven Reyes and Kyle Wick were the criminal masterminds behind the whole thing,” Bellamy said. “They’ve been working around the clock to get it figured out. Diana Sydney set them way back when she stole one of the ships.”

“I know those two. They’re the only ones I liked,” Monty said with a lopsided smile.

Bellamy put Cora back down. 

“You okay?” She nodded at him. “Let’s go get ‘em then.” 

They reached the ship as the door crashed open and people started to flood out, cheers and shouts of happiness filling the air. He caught a glimpse of Clarke’s hair and called out to her. He would have run to her, like she was running to him, but over his shoulder he heard a voice shout his own name. When he turned, he was all but tackled by Octavia.

“You’re so big, so… god, you’re grown,” Bellamy said, when he pulled back from her embrace. Octavia was crying but she was smiling wide. He hugged her again, and turned to see Clarke with wide eyes.  

“I thought you’d never get here,” Octavia said, smoothing her hair back. It was lined with intricate braids. Bellamy was good at braiding hair, he did it for Octavia when she was young and he did it for May and Cora now, but these were far beyond his skill.

“You were dead, they told me you were floated,” he spit out, so shocked to be looking at her.

“I guess you can ask Diana Sydney why she didn’t tell you, I always assumed she did.” Octavia laughed.

“Diana Sydney?” Clarke spoke up from behind him, reminding Bellamy she just got here. He stepped away from Octavia reluctantly and grabbed Clarke in a hug.

“I’ve been on the ground just under an hour and it’s fucking insane.” He scrunched his face when he noticed May and Cora gaping at him. He picked May up and gave her a hug before putting her down again. “I meant really shocking.”

Clarke laughed at the absurdity of everything. “Hi, I’m Clarke,” she said putting her hand out. Octavia shook it.

“See, now my brother can’t be mad at me for getting married, and what’s this? They change the population laws up there?” She gestured to the girls and even though her smile stayed, he noticed the hint of bitterness.

“No, it’s, it’s a long story, but we’ve got time for it later. Can you take us to Diana Sydney?”

“Yeah, sure, she’s been screaming for a ‘real doctor’ for almost two weeks.” 

“This isn’t the doctor she’s going to want, but I don’t care.” Bellamy grabbed Clarke’s hand. But she shook her head.

“We can’t take the girls.” Bellamy was so spun up he was glad Clarke was being practical. “Miller’s here.” Clarke said as she waved Miller over. Bellamy didn’t miss the way he looked over Monty but he didn’t have time to think about it right now. 

“Watch May and Cora, we are going to see Diana Sydney.”

Miller took the girls’ hands but leaned close to Bellamy to whisper. 

“Yeah, sure, I’m the babysitter for murder dates, just, hurry back.”

 

\--

 

Clarke

 

There was an entire village of thatched houses. They were built up with scrap metal and every house had a clothesline. It was all so much to take in.

Bellamy was walking with Octavia, talking and Clarke was behind them, she thought it best to give the siblings some space to reacquaint. She watched Bellamy fling his arms around, telling her some story of the missing 10 years. She heard his laugh and saw his smile and Clarke was happy for him.

“She’s in here,” Octavia said, gesturing for a large man with tattoos on his face to move out of the way. Clarke swallowed as she walked passed the man and into the little building. It was dark except for a few candles, and on a pallet on the ground was a pale and wilted Diana Sydney. Instinctively she grabbed Bellamy’s hand. He looked back at her and she tried to tell him without words that she was here for him.

“Well,” Diana spoke before devolving into a coughing fit. After a few minutes she recovered enough to continue. “If it isn’t the Blakes, together again, and with a bonus doctor. I’m glad it’s you, your mother would probably smother me without a second thought,” Diana said to Clarke.

“I can fill the position,” Bellamy growled. Clarke put a hand on his chest and moved in front of him, leaning down to check the woman’s injuries. She smelled terrible, infection already set in her wounds.   
  
“Ask her what you want to know because she’s not long for this world,” Clarke said looking up to her husband. He gave her a curt nod before crouching down next to Clarke.

“Going to let me die, huh?” Diana asked.

“All the medicine on the Ark couldn’t save you,” Clarke replied shortly. “I’m sorry, even if you hadn’t threatened my children, I still couldn’t save you.”

Bellamy’s jaw seemed to tense further, she wondered if his muscles could take much more.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Octavia? Why wasn’t she on the manifest?” Bellamy asked low and cold. Clarke would be terrified if that tone was directed at her.

“You owe me now. I was holding it as an ace in my hand, I thought it would be different, thought I might use it to take back some power from you on the ground, but now I guess I have to use it to ask you to kill me. Put me out of my misery. You’ve wanted to kill me for years.” She coughed again and Clarke could hear the way her lungs were failing from the way the cough sounded.

He sighed heavily, and stood up, he reached for Clarke’s hand and helped her up too. She looked at him confused, unsure of what was happening.

“No,” he said. “You’re going to suffer until you slip away. Painfully.”

Clarke understood now and she didn’t blame him at all. She didn’t want to contemplate that she was now complicit in the death of a woman, it didn’t matter. Diana Sydney of all people didn’t deserve mercy.

“Please,” Diana begged but Bellamy shook his head. “What about your revenge?”

“It was childish, I’ve already gotten my revenge, I’m enjoying the life I live,” Bellamy said and Clarke was surprised to hear her words echoed in him. “I’m on the ground, I’m with my family. That’s better than killing you.”

Diana tried to call after them as they left the building, but Clarke didn’t look back, she squeezed Bellamy’s hand, and he looked at her, maybe for approval, so gave him an understanding glance as they followed Octavia out of the village.

 

 

\--

 

 

“This is unnecessary, Clarke.” The Chancellor stood in front of her with a hand on her hip. 

“So are you at this point,” she muttered. Clarke pushed passed her mother, grabbing her little red bag off the counter.

Because Octavia, Monty and the other five surviving delinquents sent down in the first drop ship were fully integrated into the grounder village, it was a relatively easy transition to the ground. Trade agreements were quickly drafted, the Ark population, now called the Sky People, set out to carve a settlement for themselves. In exchange for the grounders helping them till lands and trade livestock, Clarke went to the village every Tuesday with her medical bag.

The Chancellor constantly complained about the arrangement…because she had nothing to do with it. Bellamy, Clarke, and Wells, with Octavia translating and guiding them, worked out all the details. Abby was still in charge of the Sky People but more and more, she was seen as a figurehead, unwilling to work with the grounders, trying to hold on to policies that only made sense in space, and being generally disagreeable. There would be an election next year and Bellamy was prodding both Clarke and Wells to run against Abby.

“You know politics aren’t my thing, I’ll keep my council seat but I never got into the game for the right reasons, you two are better suited,” he explained. Clarke loved his honesty in this, but she wasn’t sure she wanted her mother’s position either. It didn’t matter just yet though, there was still a year to figure it out and endless, more pressing work in front of them.

Clarke remembered something and turned back to her mother. “If we’re not back in time, can you please pick up the girls from school?”

The Chancellor made a face, apparently now she was too good to play grandma. “Yes, but try not to take all night, they make such a mess.” 

“Almost as if they’re kids, so wacky,” Clarke mumbled with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t expect to be out that long but just in case,” she said louder for her mother to hear.

“Do you plan on having any more, kids, I mean?” Abby asked throwing Clarke off. She stared wide eyed at her mother for a second.   
  
“I don’t really know,” was all she could manage before exiting the half tent, half primitive cabin that was serving as medical.

“That’s a ‘I just spoke to the Chancellor’ face,” Bellamy said meeting her in the settlement square. She wedged the bag under her arm so she could rub her temples.

“Just being her difficult self and then dropping a bomb.”

“What bomb?” Bellamy asked concerned now, his brow furrowed.

“She asked if we were going to have more kids,” Clarke said closing her eyes afraid of what he might say one way or another. She opened them when he scoffed.

“Like right now or…ever?” he asked then looked off in the distance. “And why is that any of her business? Why would she even ask that? It’s not like anyone in this settlement is even thinking about it, we’ve been down here what? Two months? Why?”

Clarke gave him a small smile and reached for his arm, guiding him to the gate. “Good answer.”

“Next thing you know someone is going to say my sister is pregnant,” Bellamy continued. “I don’t even want to think about that, I can’t think about that, I’ve barely warmed to Lincoln. I mean, yeah okay sure, he’s a nice guy but he’s huge. It’s possible he could break her.”

“Stop, Bellamy. Just stop.”

“Wait, what did you tell her when she asked?” He paused to look down at her seriously.

“I said I didn’t know,” Clarke answered, dragging him again toward the gate. 

“Good answer,” Bellamy repeated her words back.

They could figure it out later. Whenever they were ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
